Amado Aragon, the father of middle school student Amanada Aragon who was killed on her way to school, dries tears in his daughter’s room Tuesday. Amanada’s brother, Aaron, 2, is seen in the background. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Amanda Aragon could have stayed home from school Monday.

But her head cold had already cost her two days of classes, and the star student didn't want to skip another day at Sawyer Middle School, her parents said.

She walked out the door about 7:20 a.m. with her bulky powder blue backpack slung across her back. When Amanda's father, Amado Aragon, heard sirens a few minutes later but didn't worry. Amanda was already at school, he thought.

He would later learn she never made it to school and that the sirens were for his 11-year-old girl, who lay lifeless in a nearby road after being hit by a car as she walked in a crosswalk.

"I don't know what to do to bring her back. Nothing can bring her back now," Amado Aragon said Tuesday evening at the family apartment on Torrey Pines Drive near Tropicana Avenue.

The driver of the dark Geo Metro that killed Amanda never stopped at the scene.

Hours later, Las Vegas police arrested motorist Barry Jay Fehler, 59, at a mobile home park on Tropicana, less than a mile from the scene.

Fehler, who works as a Review-Journal newspaper carrier, faces charges including vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and driving on a suspended license.

His license was suspended last month when he failed to appear in court on at least one traffic infraction, an official with knowledge of Fehler's driving record said.

Fehler has received numerous tickets, including citations for running red lights, making unsafe turns and driving the wrong way on a one-way street, the official said.

Over the past 18 months, he was cited for failing to give the appropriate signal, driving without due care and failure to decrease speed, and disregarding a traffic signal, the official said.

"He just looks like a bad driver," the official said.

Fehler remained in the Clark County Detention Center Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Amanda's parents recalled their jovial daughter, an A-student who always seemed to be smiling.

Sitting in their daughter's bedroom, with a pink Hello Kitty blanket on the bed and flower stickers on the wall, the Aragons said their daughter was the best they could ask for.

Besides excelling in school, she helped out around the house, cooking, cleaning and baby-sitting her 2-year-old brother, Aaron.

While the Aragons talked about their daughter, Aaron walked into her room and hid behind the door, just like he used to do when he played hide-and-seek with his sister.

Amanda loved English and writing, and she talked about becoming a teacher or writer.

She also talked about feeding the homeless, and she recently asked her mother to look into volunteer opportunities at a church or hospital.

"She was just a little girl," said Amanda's mother, Anne Aragon said. "Why didn't she have a chance?"

Amado Aragon, 34, a chef at the Palms buffet, and Anne Aragon, 32, a medical office worker, moved the family to Las Vegas from Hawaii in 1999.

They came in search of better job opportunities and better schools for their children.

Their oldest daughter, 15-year-old Cassandra, was in Hawaii when her sister was killed.

The Aragons want to bury their daughter in her native Hawaii next month. They are collecting donations to cover expenses.

They plan to bury her with her white teddy bear Makoa. His name means "strong" in Hawaiian, Amado Aragon said.

"She could have been so much, and we cannot see that now," Anne Aragon said. "We can't bring her back now."

The Aragons said they were angry at Fehler. They don't understand why the motorist didn't stop after hitting their daughter.

They want to see him do hard time.

They also want to see a light or other traffic control device installed at the intersection of Hacienda Avenue and Redwood Street, where their daughter was killed.

"My daughter didn't die for nothing," Anne Aragon said.

"If anything she's going to help put up that light to keep everybody else safe."

A vigil for Amanda was scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday at Christ the King Catholic Church, 4925 S. Torrey Pines Drive.

A memorial services was scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at the church.

Donations to the Aragon family can be made at any Bank of America branch.