Hit-and-Run Arrest Made After NJ Women Killed Walking Home From World Cup Watch Party
David J. Zapata-Vera surrendered three days later and faces vehicular homicide charges after police said video showed his car barreling through a crosswalk.
- On Saturday, June 20, a hit-and-run crash at Park Avenue and North 7th Street in Newark killed Mariana Elizabeth Valverde Beltran, 58, and Maria Isabel DeLosAngeles Salgado Ayala, 61, as they walked home from a World Cup watch party.
- David J. Zapata-Vera, 26, surrendered to police on Tuesday, three days after the fatal incident; the Essex County Prosecutor confirmed the suspect remains in custody.
- Video footage obtained by ABC7 shows the vehicle striking the pedestrians in the crosswalk; Zapata-Vera faces two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide and leaving the scene charges.
- "You have to live with this for the rest of your life," said Beltran's cousin, Jeffrey Chacon, as the family struggles to contact relatives in Ecuador.
- The case remains under investigation, and anyone with information is urged to contact the Essex County Prosecutor Office Tips Line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.
15 Articles
15 Articles
World Cup Watch Party Ends In Unthinkable Tragedy
A speeding New Jersey driver who struck and killed two World Cup fans before fleeing the scene was charged on Wednesday, authorities said. David J. Zapata-Vera, the 26-year-old driver, surrendered himself to authorities on Tuesday after speeding through a Newark intersection as two women were walking across the street. He was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in …
Two NJ women killed in hit-and-run crash as they walked home from World Cup watch party
Mariana Elizabeth Valverde Beltran, 58, and Maria Isabel DeLosAngeles Salgado Ayala, 61, were walking across the intersection at Park Avenue and North 7th Street in Newark when a driver barreled into the pair, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.
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