MIAMI (WSVN) - Family members are desperate for answers, Tuesday, after their loved one was killed by a hit-and-run driver.
According to police, the victim, 25-year-old Reynaldo Garcia, was struck and killed at an intersection near Northwest 59th Street and Third Avenue, last Tuesday, around 10:40 p.m.
“The car just hits him and leaves him like he’s a dog,” said Garcia’s friend, Valesca Diaz. “You don’t even do that to a dog! When we heard the big crash, it was like if a bomb exploded, so we heard that, and his cousin and I came running around the corner.”
Now, family and friends are calling for justice for Garcia, who was simply riding his bike to his girlfriend’s house. His loved ones gathered near the memorial arranged in his honor, Tuesday morning, leaving flowers and lighting flowers near the scene of the hit-and-run.
“That was my family, that was my everything,” said Garcia’s girlfriend, Lydia Espino. “Now he’s gone, and they took him from me, and it’s not fair, and I don’t know who did it! I just want to know who did it. I wanna know why. Why couldn’t you stop?”
“I’m traumatized. I want him back,” Diaz said. “We just want justice, you know, so he can rest in peace. He’s gone too fast.”
Some people at the memorial said they found some pieces of material they believed to be part of the car after investigators had left.
Since the investigation began, police have yet to make an arrest, but know the vehicle in question is a four-door white sedan that, investigators believe, has front driver-side and left rear passenger-side door damage. There’s a possibility that the windshield was damaged in the impact, as well.
“They had to have run through the stop sign, and the damage from the vehicle itself is enough that somebody should have noticed the vehicle,” City of Miami Police Major Ervens Ford said.
Abigail Ocampo said she hasn’t been able to sleep since her son’s death.
“I can’t sleep. I don’t tell my mom or my dad. I can’t sleep,” Ocampo said.
If you have any information on this hit-and-run, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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