Albuquerque family seeks closure after deadly hit-and-run

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.