MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Family members of a father and son killed in a fatal hit-and-run crash in northwest Miami-Dade County urged the public Saturday to help police find the man responsible.
Jose Cepeda, 57, and Cesar Cepeda, 34, were attending to a disabled vehicle on the side of State Road 836 when they were struck and killed Friday by passing car. The driver then fled the scene in Jose Cepeda's SUV. It was later found abandoned in Homestead.
"Bring justice to the man who left them behind," said family member Josephine Sandelis-Cepeda. "That could’ve been me and that could been you out there, so unite and help us."
Before the hit-and-run crash, Cesar Cepeda had been involved in an accident on State Road 836 and called his father and authorities for help. Jose Cepeda arrived within minutes to help his son.
The two men were on the shoulder waiting for the Florida Highway Patrol when a 2014 Chevy Camaro struck them.
"He died protecting his son. My father-in-law loved his children," Josephine Sandelis-Cepeda said of Jose Cepeda. "These men are honorable men, kings in our family."
Al Cruz, a friend of the family, has setup a GoFundMe page to help the family pay funeral expenses. Cesar is survived by a wife and two young children while Jose left behind a wife and four children. Both men were the sole providers for their families, Cruz said.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.