A case that began with a search for a fleeing driver has taken a major turn in Newark. According to Eyewitness News, the man wanted over a deadly hit and run in the city has surrendered, with David Zapata Vera turning himself in to authorities after a crash that left two women dead.
The collision happened on a city street over the weekend. Surveillance video shows the moment the driver slammed into two women as they were crossing Park Avenue and North 7th Street, capturing the impact that would prove fatal for both of them.
The consequences of that crash were devastating. Both women died from their injuries, turning what might have been a traffic case into a double fatality and intensifying the effort to track down the person behind the wheel who had not stopped.
For days, the central question had been the identity and whereabouts of that driver. The vehicle had left the scene after the women were struck, and investigators had been working to find whoever was responsible before the case reached this stage.
That uncertainty ended when the suspect came forward. David Zapata Vera, 26, turned himself in to authorities, bringing him into the legal process rather than leaving police to continue searching for him on the streets of the city and beyond.
Now the focus shifts to the charges he faces. According to the report, Zapata Vera faces a long list of charges, including vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a deadly crash, accusations that place both the deaths and his departure from the scene at the center of the case as it moves forward.