MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The Miami-Dade Police Department is investigating a fatal hit-and-run crash that left one person dead and six others injured Monday morning in northwest Miami-Dade.
The crash occurred in the area of Northwest 119th Street and 22nd Avenue.
According to Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, who is also a spokesman for the police department, a Toyota Sienna that was occupied with seven people was heading east on Northwest 119th Street, crossing the intersection, when it was rear-ended at a high rate of speed by a red Dodge Charger.
Zabaleta said six men in their early 20s who were passengers in the Toyota were taken to local hospitals in stable condition.
He said Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel transported one other person inside the vehicle to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition. That victim, identified by loved ones as 23-year-old Christopher Lopez, died at the hospital a short time later.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help Lopez’s family pay for funeral expenses and exceeded its goal of $5,000 in less than 24 hours.
Condolences have been pouring in on the page for Lopez’s family.
Zabaleta said the driver of the Charger abandoned the vehicle at the scene and fled the area.
“This person just left these individuals there,” Zabaleta said.
He was identified by police only as a Black male, who was bald and about 6 feet tall.
“Our priority at this point is to be able to identify and capture and arrest the individual that fled from the scene and left these people for dead,” Zabaleta said.
Anyone with further information about the hit-and-run is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.