Charly Haley, and MacKenzie Elmer

Des Moines Register

An 18-year-old driver accused in a crash that killed a 12-year-old girl and injured four others knew before the crash that the brakes in his car didn't work, according to court documents.

Fernando Fernel Lopez Aguilar of Des Moines was charged with homicide by reckless driving Monday after 12-year-old Lea Phann died overnight Sunday from injuries she suffered in the Thursday crash.

Lopez Aguilar had already been arrested on numerous other charges in connection to the crash at Bell Avenue and Southeast Sixth Street.

Sos Phann, 67, a relative of Lea's, was still hospitalized Monday with injuries from the crash, police said. He was initially admitted to the hospital in critical condition, and his medical condition was not available Monday.

Three others injured in the crash have been released from the hospital.

According to criminal complaints filed against Lopez Aguilar, he told investigators that he had known for at least three days the brakes in his car had been malfunctioning, but he drove the vehicle anyway.

Police said Lopez Aguilar was speeding westbound on Bell Avenue at about 3:15 p.m. Thursday when he ran a stop sign and struck a pickup truck, which was traveling northbound on Southeast Sixth. The impact sent the pickup airborne and into an SUV on Southeast Sixth.

Lopez Aguilar was not intoxicated at the time of the crash, police said.

Lopez Aguilar's car ended up on a lawn near the intersection, while the other two vehicles stopped in the middle of Southeast Sixth. The SUV’s roof was mostly torn off, and tires from the pickup ended up several feet away from the vehicle.

An 8-month-old baby was in Lopez Aguilar's car, properly restrained in a car seat and uninjured.

Lea Phann was in the SUV, which Sos Phann was driving, police said.

Kholey Phann, 7, a passenger in the SUV, was also injured, along with Jackie Laws, 59, and Frances Jordan, 18, who were both in the pickup.

Lopez Aguilar was not injured in the crash, police said.

He was arrested Thursday night and charged with operating without a driver's license, no insurance, child endangerment and three counts of serious injury by reckless driving. One of the charges of serious injury by reckless driving was upgraded to homicide by reckless driving on Monday after Lea Phann's death, police said.

Lea was in seventh grade at Brody Middle School, said Amanda Lewis, spokeswoman for Des Moines Public Schools. District grief counselors are available at the school to help students cope with Lea's death, Lewis said.

Lea often joked with her teachers and classmates, and she loved to smile and play softball, Elizabeth Treinen, Lea's sixth-grade teacher, told We Are Iowa Local 5 News.

Lea had celebrated her 12th birthday Sept. 3, the Saturday before the crash.

A GoFundMe.com account is available online for people to donate to the Phann family to help with medical expenses.

Additionally, 5 Borough Bagels in Clive is donating proceeds from Lea's favorite drink, iced vanilla chai tea latte, to her family. All sales of the drink between Tuesday and Oct. 13 will go to the Phann family, according to the restaurant's Facebook post.

According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, this is the first fatal crash at the intersection of Southeast Sixth and Bell in about 10 years.

Fourteen crashes occurred at that intersection between 2006 and 2015. Eleven of those crashes involved someone either running a stop sign or failing to yield after stopping at a stop sign, according to the DOT. One of the crashes involved driving too fast for conditions.

When Lopez Aguilar ran the stop sign before the crash Thursday, he was driving at an excessive speed, police said.

Lopez Aguilar told investigators he tried to stop at the stop sign, but he couldn't because the brakes on his car were not working, according to a criminal complaint.

Des Moines Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said Monday investigators have not yet determined how fast Lopez Aguilar was driving.

In that area, the speed limit is 25 mph on Bell and 30 mph on Southeast Sixth, Parizek said.

Lopez Aguilar is at the Polk County Jail on a $335,000 cash bond, according to jail records.