Man accused of killing 15-year-old boy in Butler County hit-and-run crash appears before judge
A man accused of killing a Butler County high school student in a hit-and-run crash in 2023 appeared in front of a judge on Thursday.
Aiden Lutz was riding his bicycle in Butler Township in October 2023 when a vehicle allegedly driven by Joshua A. Rivera hit the 15-year-old Butler Senior High School student. The hit-and-run crash happened at Dutchtown Road and Sugar Creek Drive, authorities said.
The suspect's attorney asked on Thursday for his client's bond to be lowered due to trial delays, but many people in the community showed up to oppose that. They wore yellow shirts with "justice for Aiden" on the front.
The judge denied the attorney's request for nominal bail for Rivera, and applause could be heard outside the courtroom.
"We're very, very relieved that he's going to stay where he is," Lindsay Gardner said.
Court paperwork shows Rivera hit Lutz from behind. Prosecutors say he then drove off without offering aid.
"He didn't deserve it, and I felt like us being here for him helped greatly," Lutz's friend Gavin Gardner said.
The prosecution argued Rivera is a flight risk, saying when a Penn Township officer encountered Rivera shortly after the incident, she ordered him to stop, but he took off into the woods.
"I'm glad he didn't get bail because nobody else can be hurt anymore," the victim's friend Gabriella Scarnato said. "We don't have to worry about losing another member of our community to him."
When the bailiff was escorting Rivera out of the courtroom, he turned to the crowd and said, "It was an accident, and I've lost things too."
Lutz's friends said they were appalled and offended.
"I understand he lost things too, but somebody lost their child that day," Scarnato said.
"We understand that, but he still has to pay for his decisions," Gardner said.
The jury is expected to be selected on June 5, and a trial is set to begin later that day. Rivera remains in the Butler County prison on a $500,000 cash bond.
