A 20-year-old YouTuber who was driving a car that killed a five-year-old boy in Rome earlier this week is to have his phone analysed to see if he filmed any videos before, during or after the impact of his SUV with the Smart car driven by the boy's mother, police said Friday.
Prosecutors think the crash which killed Manuel may have been caused by a YouTube challenge involving YouTuber and SUV Lamborghini driver Matteo Di Pietro and the other four occupants of the powerful car.
All five reportedly belonged to the Roman collective The Borderline, which films and posts "absurd and unique" videos on its YouTube channel, followed by 600,000 subscribers.
In the next few hours, the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office will entrust a consultant with the task of analysing Di Pietro's mobile phone, judicial sources said.
The YouTuber, whose crash also seriously injured mother and sister, was accompanied by three young men and a young woman, all his age.
Police are also gathering testimony from witnesses of the crash at Casal Palocco south of the Italian capital, and other members of the collective.
Di Pietro is under investigation for suspected vehicular homicide.
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