New Mexico
Albuquerque family seeks closure after deadly hit-and-run
A deadly hit-and-run crash has an Albuquerque family wanting to put a stop to speeding once and for all.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A deadly hit-and-run crash has an Albuquerque family wanting to put a stop to speeding once and for all. They say a truck going 100 mph hit and killed Daniel Zambrano while he was crossing the street.
“There’s no words to explain how we feel about what’s happened to my brother,” said Patrick Zambrano, Daniel Zambrano’s brother.
Patrick says a driver hit and killed his brother Daniel while he was crossing the street near Old Coors Drive and Churchill Road, just a block off west Central. It happened the night of June 10.
“I immediately came to the scene and stood outside the crime scene tape, and I witnessed my uncle laying in the street. There was no traffic had been blocked off. We stayed until OMI took his body,” said Leon Zambrano, Daniel’s brother.
Leon stayed there for hours, not wanting his uncle to be alone.
“I just felt I couldn’t leave his side. I wanted to be there, near my uncle, even though he’s in heaven. Just out of respect for the family as well,” said Leon.
Albuquerque police confirms it was possibly a white Ford F-150 that hit Daniel and sped off.
On Saturday, the family set up a memorial for him at the crash site.
“These are things that Daniel liked, like in his cards are there. The flowers, he loved having flowers. He had woken up that morning, and he had a cross that he was restoring, a metal cross,” said a family member.
“So the symbol of the cross is the symbol of what he liked, what he believed in,” said Patrick.
Patrick knew Daniel as “Danny.” He says he was always outside– talking and playing in the community.
“He loved playing tricks with his cards, everywhere he went, he had his deck of cards. You know, so his luck ran out. And, you know, we’re really, we’re broken-hearted about the whole darn thing. We miss him so much,” said Patrick.
Through the heartbreak, Danny’s family is trying to make sure something like this doesn’t happen to anyone else. They’re pleading with drivers to slow down, especially in that area.
“We have no signs here for slow down, no lights. The people are speeding 70-80 miles an hour,” Patrick said. “If you go like a half a mile up the road on both sides, there’s no, no reflectors, no lights, no signs.”
Above all, Danny’s family just wants the person who did this to come forward. They also want them to know, they’re praying for them.
“You have to believe you have to forgive. And if you don’t, then you stay stuck with that dark heart. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to be perfect. Nobody’s perfect. All God asks is that you believe and just trust in Him. Have some type of hope, and I believe forgiveness is the biggest thing. So I forgive you whoever did this,” said Zambrano.
APD says investigators did get video, including license plate information of the suspect’s truck, but haven’t made any arrests.
Native Vote 2026
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A Laguna Pueblo woman is the front runner to be New Mexico’s next governor.
Shortly after polls closed Tuesday night, Deb Haaland was declared the winner over Bernalillo County district attorney Sam Bregman in the state’s semi-open Democratic Party primary. As of 11:00 p.m., Haaland carried support from 72% of the Democratic primary voters to Bregman’s 28%, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
“We’re showing everyone that a better future in New Mexico is possible,” she told supporters gathered in Albuquerque’s historic Old Town Plaza. “New Mexicans want a leader who will stand up for working people, and who is ready to take on Donald Trump. I proudly accept your nomination as a Democratic nominee.”
Haaland spoke for 13 minutes, at times through a scratchy throat that required her to pause for water breaks. “Excuse me, I’ve been talking with voters all day,” she said while grabbing a water bottle before hitting her campaign stump notes on affordability, health care and public safety.
She will face Republican Gregg Hull, a former mayor from suburban Rio Rancho that won his party’s three-way primary with 47% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
Haaland will be the Democratic Party nominee in a state dominated at every level by Democrats, and is expected to be heavily favored in the general election. With that insight she said her campaign message does translate to Republicans and Independent voters.
“We want our kids to thrive. We want our kids to have a quality, public education. We want every New Mexican to have health care. Everybody wants to feel safe in their neighborhoods, and everybody wants to be able to afford to put a hot meal on their table every night and have a roof over their children’s heads,” she said. “Those issues transcend whatever political spectrum we’re trying to slice and dice people into.”
Shortly after the race was called, Haaland campaign staff, major donors, surrogates, and their families walked from a building on the west side of Albuquerque’s Old Town Plaza to the historic plaza core, where the Haaland campaign had set up a stage and reserved the entire plaza for its victory celebration.
“We are now witnessing history in the making,” New Mexico state Rep. Derrick Lente (Sandia Pueblo) said to supporters immediately after Haaland was declared the winner.
Denise Wilie (Dine) also joined the celebration of Haaland’s victory. Wilie said she worked on get-out-the-vote efforts with the Native American Voters Alliance in McKinley County.
“It just is so exhilarating to even think about, a woman and a Pueblo woman,” she said. “Indigenous all the way, is how I feel. I’m like, yes, let’s get more of our voices.”
Haaland was introduced by her two sisters and walked to the stage escorted by a mariachi band.
Speaking to reporters after the event Haaland reflected on voting for a Pueblo woman (herself) for governor.
“I got emotional, quite frankly, when I went to vote for myself because you do that when you’re a candidate,” she said. “We’ve never had a Native American governor in New Mexico. We’re a multicultural state. I think representation matters, especially in a political era such as this one. So, I’m really proud and honored to carry on the legacy of my ancestors, who worked so incredibly hard to make sure that I had a place here today.”
Related
When a famly unexpectedly loses a loved one, or has someone go missing, the details of what comes next can be overwhelming.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – When a famly unexpectedly loses a loved one, or has someone go missing, the details of what comes next can be overwhelming.
But they don’t have to do it alone thanks to an organization helping New Mexico families with some of those burdens.
Watch the video above for more.
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