NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It had only been a few days since Maria Duarte found her 16-year-old son, Mark Garay, dead after a driver struck him in North Lauderdale — and didn’t stop to help him. She was at a roadside memorial on Sunday.
Deputies believe the driver of a white sedan with tinted windows veered into the bike lane killing the high school student who was riding his bicycle northbound along North State Road Seven, north of Commercial Boulevard.
Duarte said she knew Mark had left work at an ice cream shop, so when he didn’t get home on time, she decided to go out and search for him. Deputies believe she found him an hour after the crash. He was about a block away from home.
“He was a special son; he was kind to everyone,” Duarte said in Spanish. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.”
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the hit-and-run crash was shortly after 1 a.m., on June 6, north of Commercial Boulevard, and traffic homicide unit detectives are searching for the driver who continued northbound, made a U-turn, and fled southbound.
“That’s what I don’t understand, that no one helped my boy,” Duarte said through tears.
Kathy Rigby-Harris said Mark was wearing all black and it was dark. She was working nearby and helped Duarte to call 911. She said she later saw surveillance video of the hit-and-run crash.
“The way that the car kept on going, I don’t think they know what they hit because they didn’t brake,” Rigby-Harris said.
After the impact, Rigby-Harris said Mark and his bicycle flew.
“He saved money as much as he could and bought his bicycle,” Alexis Rivera, a cousin, told Telemundo in Spanish, describing Mark as “very motivated,” “intelligent,” and “educated.”
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.
“We are very devastated,” Florencia Aguilar wrote in Spanish on GoFundMe adding that Mark was her cousin.
Detective Sean Strzalkowski asked anyone with information about the case to call 954-321-4845 or Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477. Anonymous tips that lead to an arrest are eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.