A tragic traffic accident in Newark, New Jersey, resulted in the deaths of two female soccer fans returning from an official FIFA event. They were hit by a vehicle last Saturday night (20/6), while crossing a city street.
The victims were identified as Mariana Elizabeth Valverde Beltran, aged 58, and Maria Isabel DeLosAngeles Salgado Ayala, aged 61, both of Ecuadorian nationality. They had watched the match between Ecuador and Curaçao, valid for the World Cup, which took place in Kansas City and ended 0-0.
An eyewitness to the incident reported that the driver of a sedan ignored the signal change, accelerating as he passed through the pedestrian crossing. The traffic light was in the process of transitioning from green to red, indicating that pedestrians had the right of way to cross.
“I don’t know if he was drunk, but, in any case, he sped up and that’s what happened,” said Manuel Candelaria in a statement to broadcaster WABC, describing the fatal dynamics of the collision.
After the impact, the driver of the vehicle fled the scene immediately and did not provide any type of assistance to the victims. Just three days after the incident, 26-year-old David J. Zapata-Vera turned himself in to law enforcement authorities.
The accused is in preventive detention, without the possibility of paying bail, awaiting developments in the judicial process.
David J. Zapata-Vera faces multiple criminal charges, including two counts of manslaughter while driving a motor vehicle, classified as second degree. New Jersey laws provide strict penalties for this type of crime, especially when associated with leaving the scene of an accident.
In addition, he is accused of two infractions of evading the scene of a fatal accident, also second degree, and two infractions of endangering the lives of injured victims, characterized as third degree.
