PARIS, Maine — It’s been one year since a fatal hit-and-run in Paris, and to date, no one has been charged in the death of 16-year-old Xavier Fuentes.
Sheila Cole, Fuentes’ mother, remembers almost every detail of that night.
“He walked all the way from the town of Oxford to the town of Paris and sometime between 8:00 and 8:30 he was hit by a vehicle,” she told CBS 13.
That vehicle killed Fuentes and the driver kept on going.
“Sometimes I think I’m still kind of in shock that this has happened, it still feels like a fresh wound,” she said. “I still get very angry sometimes.”
In a statement sent to CBS 13, Lt. Jeffrey Lange of the Paris Police Department described the case as an “open and active investigation.”
“The Paris Police Department has two individuals that we suspect were involved and we continue to gather additional information given to us by the public and track down all leads,” he said. “There are still pieces of evidence at the Maine State Crime Lab that are being analyzed and we are anxiously waiting for this information to be released to us in order to possibly move forward in prosecuting this case.”
Cole is frustrated an arrest hasn’t been made.
“I was really kind of hoping we wouldn’t make it to the year anniversary without people being charged for it,” she said. But she said she’s accepted that it could take a few more months for evidence to come back.
Cole said what happened to her son just isn’t fair. She described Xavier as funny and kind.
“He was someone that I think had a way of always making other people feel good, happy,” she said. “You couldn’t not smile … and he had a really great smile.”
When asked what keeps her going, she said, “Ultimately what gives me the strength to maintain myself is the fact that I know God is going to bring justice for my son.”