Boy killed, mother critically injured in Margate crash

Car crashes into tree on Royal Palm Boulevard

MARGATE, Fla. – A 5-year-old boy is dead and his mother is in critical condition after a car crashed into a tree in Margate.

The crash occurred shortly before 11 p.m. on Royal Palm Boulevard near Northwest 73rd Avenue.

Margate police Lt. Efrain Suarez said Imani Malik was driving a 2017 Nissan Sentra east on Royal Palm Boulevard when she somehow lost control of the car, which veered off the road and struck a tree.

Suarez said Malik's 5-year-old son was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

The boy's body was covered by a yellow tarp on the ground.

Malik, 22, was taken to Broward Health North, where she was listed in critical condition.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

"Speed, that's the problem," a man who didn't want to be identified told Local 10 News. "People don't understand, speed kills."