ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) – Police have caught the suspect in local teenager Mason Hada’s car crash death more than a year after the incident.

The U.S. Fugitive Task Force arrested Deahri Steele, 19, in Detroit on Thursday. According to Rockford Police, he fatally struck Hada, then 16, in August 2021 on his way home from football practice at East High School.

Court documents show Steele was driving nearly 60 miles above the speed limit before the crash near 24th Street. Hada’s father is thanking law enforcement agencies for helping his family get some closure.

“Losing Mason changed all of our lives in a miserable way,” said LeRoy Hada in a statement with RPD. “We all have been extremely patient the last 16 months waiting for the day Mason got the justice he deserves and that day has finally come.”

Steele is charged with Reckless Homicide and Aggravated Driving Under the Influence Involving Death.