By Adam Pincus
Chimbo, 25, made an appeal Saturday night to anyone who might have witnessed the deadly hit-and-run at 9:45 p.m. May 23, that took from him his wife and only child. “Simply call, make a confidential call. A license plate number, whatever information is very important… A lead in order to continue gathering facts,” he said.”Because it could save lives -(the driver) is still on the loose.”The deaths of Carmen Lata, 25, and their 2-year-old son Alex, were the first in a string of hit-and-runs that left three people dead in the city last week.A 20-year-old Russian man was killed in Manhattan on May 25. And only four blocks west of where Lata and her son were killed, another pedestrian, 27, was struck and seriously injured early Sunday morning near the corner of Northern Boulevard and 98th Street. The 36-year-old driver, Jose Castro from Sunnyside, was arrested a few blocks away and later charged with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident, police said.There have been 18 hit-and-run deaths so far this year in the city, according to police.Police reports said it was a green van with a gold stripe and gold tire rims that hit Lata and her son Alex as the family crossed Northern Boulevard at 102nd Street.A cousin of Chimbo's, Walter Mejia, said at the wake last week that “hopefully, with the media (attention), it will be possible to find the person, so there can be justice.”He described Lata as a loving wife who took care of her Corona home, while her husband worked in construction. He said the two met in Cuenca, Ecuador, and came to this country in the late 1990s.Mejia said Alex was a lively boy. “He always was playing with his mother and father,” he said, and then added, “And now it is all finished.” Alex would have turned 3 July 14.The two victims lay in open-faced coffins at the end of a long room at the funeral home. Chimbo sat in a tall chair, only feet from his wife and child, speaking with visitors.The two bodies, Lata dressed in black with her hands folded and her child in white, were framed by the white of the open casket interiors, each under a simple cross. The child's casket, much smaller, was near the foot of his mother's, and elevated.Surrounding the bodies were about a half-dozen enormous funeral wreaths, adding bright reds and greens to the somber scene.Chimbo later expressed gratitude to the people and companies who had assisted him since the accident.He said American Airlines was helping. The airline did not charge him to transport the bodies to Cuenca for the burial. He said he also received a check Friday for approximately $3,000 from Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona), who made a visit to pay condolences. He helped Chimbo open an account the day after the accident at the North Fork Bank in order to allow people to make donations to defray the costs of the funeral.”Today it is for me, but tomorrow it could be for them,” Chimbo noted philosophically. Reach reporter Adam Pincus by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
