Andres Laris of Riverside charged with murder of boy who died in serious accident

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) — A man has been arrested in connection with the death of an 8-year-old boy who died in a head-on collision in Riverside last year.

Andres Laris, 23, of Riverside, was taken into custody Thursday. He is charged with first-degree murder and three traffic violations with serious bodily harm.

Note: The video in the media player above is from a previous report.

Laris is accused of driving his Honda at over 160 km/h while under the influence of marijuana and colliding with a Nissan. 8-year-old Obed Liam Barbosa Carbajal died and his three siblings were injured.

Obed's then 25-year-old sister Kially Carbajal and his two siblings, 16-year-old Mario and 10-year-old Kiara, were seriously injured in the collision.

The accident occurred on May 16, 2023 at around 7:30 a.m. near Arlington and Stover Avenue.

According to Riverside police, Laris was driving westbound on Arlington when he lost control of his Honda, crossed into the oncoming lane and collided head-on with Carbajal's car.

Laris was said to have been traveling at over 160 km/h at the time of the accident. A toxicology report found cannabis in his blood, police said.

Riverside police said investigators decided to pursue murder charges based on the defendant's previous conduct, which included two speed limit violations. One of those violations resulted in him taking an online traffic safety course that warned that “driving too fast is dangerous because it increases the risk of a crash and reduces the time the driver has to react and avoid a collision.”

Laris is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

City News Service contributed to this report.