A 34-year-old man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2020 murder of a one-year-old boy during a violent carjacking attempt.
On February 13, 2025, Nico Lorenzo De La Fuente admitted in court to the October 4, 2020, killing of Zayden McLean, who would have turned two the following month.
The incident occurred at Huguley Hospital, where McLean’s parents met to exchange custody of their child. During the exchange, De La Fuente, a stranger to the family, attempted to steal the mother’s vehicle. He knocked her to the ground while she held Zayden, then ran both of them over while fleeing the scene. Zayden died from his injuries, and his mother was seriously wounded.
At the sentencing hearing, the child’s mother addressed De La Fuente directly. “I should’ve been taking him to his first day of Kindergarten this last August,” she said. “Now instead, I grieve him every single day.”
Prosecutors Amy Allin and Allenna Bangs handled the case. The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office credited Detective Anderson and the Fort Worth Police Department for their investigative work.
“The world around me isn’t the same,” Zayden’s mother told De La Fuente in court. “I hope the fact that you murdered a one-year-old eats you from the inside out.”
