Public welcome to attend funeral for teen killed by cable while on minibike
The grieving father of a 16-year-old Las Vegas boy who was killed when he struck a steel cable while riding his minibike said the public is welcome to attend his son’s funeral.
“Anybody that wants to go and learn more about him is welcome,” Rudolfo Naranjo said in an interview.
The funeral will be held over two days, Naranjo said, with the visitation set for 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. Friday at Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery, 1325 N. Main St.
The burial will be at 9 a.m. Saturday at the same location.
“I want everybody and anybody who has a kid, that loves their children, or that loved my kid, to come,” Naranjo said.
Angel was killed July 30 when he, his brother Arley, 19, and a few other boys were riding their minibikes on Las Vegas Wash Trail near East Lake Mead Boulevard and Pecos Road.
Angel’s father and older brother said that Angel hit a cable that had been tied across the path from a fence on the west side of the trail.
But the family’s account of what happened differs from what the Metropolitan Police Department called a “tragic and unfortunate accident.”
The Naranjos, who think the cable was tied across the path intentionally, were angered by the department’s Monday statement, which said the cable was “slack and resting on the ground” and “not strung taut across the pathway.” Arley Naranjo said the cable wasn’t on the ground.
Although Rudolfo Naranjo said that while it’s possible the cable might have been on, or nearer to, the ground near the light post, he maintains that the cable was elevated off the ground near the fence, where his son’s neck hit the cable. This differs from what Metro said Monday, that the cable flew up and hit Angel in the neck.
“Angel’s minibike went over the cable, and it appears it then snapped up and struck him in the neck,” the Metro statement said.
On Tuesday, however, Metro issued another statement, saying authorities were “actively investigating the death of Angel Naranjo” and that detectives “are still collecting evidence and reaching out to potential witnesses.”
This story has been updated with the correct funeral information for Angel Naranjo.
Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.
