Juan D. Aguirre, 67, left, who allegedly drove the car that struck Tatiana McKinney, leaves District Court in Providence yesterday after being freed on bail.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

PROVIDENCE — Tatiana McKinney, 12, of 841 Atwells Ave., is fighting for her life in Rhode Island Hospital after she was struck by a car, vaulted into the air and suffered serious head injuries when she landed on a city street, the police said yesterday.

She lay unidentified in a hospital bed for about 18 hours until her mother called the police to report her daughter missing. Given Tatiana’s large stature, medical personnel thought their patient was 6 to 10 years older than she is, police Sgt. Paul F. Zienowicz explained yesterday.

The police were able to link the hit-and-run accident, which occurred late Sunday night, to the missing-person report only after they arranged to have a photo of the victim in her hospital bed broadcast on the late-afternoon TV news Monday. Tatiana’s aunt and a neighbor recognized her and telephoned the police.

Tatiana’s mother, Runako Fairweather, is employed on an overnight shift, Zienowicz said, and she apparently came home from work and went to bed, not realizing that anything was amiss. Fairweather declined comment last night.

Her daughter remains in critical condition, according to Zienowicz, unconscious and unresponsive.

Yesterday morning, Juan D. Aguirre, 67, of 7 Brook St., North Providence, the alleged driver of the car that struck Tatiana, was brought to District Court on a felony charge of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident with serious bodily injury resulting.

Aguirre, who was arrested Monday morning at his apartment and held in a police station cellblock, was brought into a conference room that was used as a courtroom at the Garrahy Judicial Complex, manacled by the wrist to another suspect. Wiping tears from his eyes, and wearing a blue sweatshirt with a vertical red racing stripe, blue jeans and black shoes, he sat slightly slumped in a chair until his name was called.

Inspector Jay Lynch, a police prosecutor, asked Judge Walter Gorman to set bail at $25,000 with surety, given the severity of the crime. But Edward Shapira, Aguirre’s lawyer, noted that his client is a U.S. citizen and has lived in the country for more than 48 years, including 35 years in Rhode Island. One of his two sons is in the Marine Corps and his daughter works as a translator for the public defender’s office, he pointed out.

Gorman, commenting that the defendant has substantial ties to the community and no criminal record, set bail at $5,000 with surety. Aguirre was able to post bond and he left the courthouse surrounded by six or seven family members, some of whom gave comfort by patting him on his shoulder and back.

Shapira declined to speak on his client’s behalf, except to say, “Everyone is concerned about the health of that young lady in the hospital.”

The police also lodged two civil traffic violations against Aguirre that will be adjudicated in the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal: Failing to give motorist information and to render aid at an accident resulting in personal injury or death, and failing to exercise due care behind the wheel.

The accident occurred at about 11:15 p.m. Sunday, just west of the convergence of Atwells and Manton avenues, as Tatiana crossed the street at 1117 Atwells, according to the police. She was hit by a sedan that was westbound on Manton, and a police report quoted an eyewitness who said the motorist slowed briefly after the impact and then took off.

The intersection is well-lit and the eyewitness was able to identify the suspect in a photo lineup, the police alleged.

When Providence and North Providence officers went to Aguirre’s apartment — a tipster directed them to the location of the suspect vehicle — they found a blue 2001 Hyundai Tiburon with a smashed-in hood and a smashed windshield.

According to the police, Aguirre acknowledged ownership of the vehicle, said he had been driving it the night before, and added, “Someone threw something at my car last night on Manton Avenue.” He was taken into custody and his car was towed away as evidence.

gsmith@projo.com