On Saturday, June 20, two New Jersey women were making their way home after attending a World Cup watch party when they were struck and killed in a hit-and-run crash.
A shocking video has been released showing their very last moments.
The victims were 58-year-old Mariana Elizabeth Valverde Beltran and 61-year-old Maria Isabel DeLosAngeles Salgado Ayala. They were in the middle of crossing the intersection of Park Avenue and North 7th Street in Newark when a driver slammed into them, causing them to go airborne. They were rushed to the hospital but were later both pronounced dead.
A witness who saw the fatal crash said he believes the suspect stepped on the accelerator before barreling his vehicle through the crosswalk.
“I don’t know if he was drunk, but anyway, he put the gas, and that’s what happens,” the witness, Manuel Candelaria, said.
Following the crash, family members of the victims expressed their desire for the suspect to be captured and brought to justice.
“You have to live with this for the rest of your life. I hope the person is found, but also for that person it’s something you have to live with for the rest of your life, it’s on your conscience,” said Beltran’s cousin, Jeffrey Chacon.
“My dad is managing his emotions with trying to contact everyone in Ecuador, her sisters, her son,” he went on.
Despite initially fleeing the scene, the suspect did turn himself in to law enforcement three days after the fatal crash.
The suspect has been identified as 26-year-old David J. Zapata-Vera of Newark. It’s still unclear if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.
Zapata-Vera’s charges include two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, two counts of second-degree leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, and two counts of third-degree endangering an injured victim.
He is currently being held without bond at the Essex County jail.
