By The Star Staff
Fajardo Mayor José Aníbal “Joey” Meléndez Méndez expressed his solidarity with the family of a 7-year-old boy who was run over and killed on Wednesday while he was outside a residence on Medusa Street in the Las Croabas neighborhood of the northeastern coastal municipality’s La Roca sector.
The mayor described the incident as regrettable and made himself available to the family for any help the municipality could provide them in this challenging moment.
“The people of Fajardo and all of Puerto Rico are in mourning, with the sad and lamentable departure of Diego José Aponte, the seven-year-old boy who lost his life [Wednesday], and in a very sad incident, and at this moment I can only ask for a lot of strength from […] God, to have that family in our prayers, which I know are those of Fajardo and of all of Puerto Rico,” Meléndez said. “I tell you it is a regrettable incident; there are no words to describe it.”
“But in this moment of intense sadness, I tell you that love, that the memories of that child fill the hearts of that family, are my most sincere wishes, my words of strength for them, and I hope at some point in the day, together with the emergency management personnel and the municipal police, to stop by, visit them, put at their disposal, all our work team, psychological help that we have, social workers, pastors,” the mayor continued. “It is sad, I tell you, this is about them, it is their family that is suffering, it is that child, but to see it as an incident close to them and to that family, two days ago, his grandfather, Diego José’s grandfather, who works in a public housing project in Fajardo, with the housing administrators who work and who administer that housing project, and we were at a toy distribution, on December 23, and he was helping us in the line with the other children.”
“I tell you, the things that go through one’s mind now, like this very sad news, that I even imagined, playing with those toys that we sent them, and that happens now,” Meléndez said.
On Christmas Day, a driver reported as being in his 80s lost control of his car and hit the child while he was in the yard of a residence.
The child was taken to a hospital, where the doctor on duty certified his death. The driver stopped at the scene and is cooperating with authorities, the police said.
The boy’s mother, in tears, recounted the distressing moments.
“We were at a relative’s house, cleaning up the yard, and Santa Claus brought him one of those yard blowers,” the young woman said. “When I told him: ‘Diego, I’ll be right back,’ I went out and saw [an SUV] coming up, it seemed like it was going to visit the people who were there too. But instead of braking, it accelerated, and Diego was stuck between a Tacoma and the car. Everyone tried to get him out quickly … we were able to get him out, I gave him CPR, but he couldn’t hold on.”
Agents from the Fajardo Region Highway Patrol Division, along with the prosecutor on duty, on Thursday were investigating the events to determine the complete circumstances of the accident.
Man struck and killed on Christmas night in Canóvanas
Also on Wednesday, a man died after being run over at about 11:45 p.m. on highway PR-3 in front of the Villas de Loíza urbanization in Canóvanas.
According to the police report, a call was received through the 9-1-1 Emergency System about a collision involving a vehicle. The driver of a gray 2012 Toyota Corolla was traveling in the direction of Río Grande from Canóvanas when, upon reaching the entrance of the development, he hit Edwin Meléndez Santana, 66 years old, a resident of Río Grande.
Meléndez Santana died at the scene. The driver of the vehicle stopped at the scene and was given an alcohol test with a negative result.
Personnel from the Carolina Region Highway Patrol Division were investigating the incident on Thursday.
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