Two 12-year-olds are dead this week. Two families are planning funerals instead of parent-teacher conferences. Two empty seats sit in Clark County School District classrooms where Cristofer Suarez and Haylee Ryan should be learning, laughing, growing up.

Cristofer, who played in his school’s mariachi band, was walking to J.D. Smith Middle School on Friday morning when a driver — allegedly impaired — struck him and fled. The child died Monday from his injuries.

That same day, Haylee, an artist who loved cats and robotics, was involved in a collision with a school bus while riding her bicycle near Lied Middle School. She died Tuesday. The crash investigation is ongoing.

“Both of these students had unlimited potential — potential they will never have a chance to realize,” Superintendent Jh

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