Family of man killed in hit and run on I-10 speak out
30-year-old Esteban Fuentes was killed in a hit-and-run by a vehicle on Interstate 10 in Desert Hot Springs Tuesday morning.
California Highway Patrol officers received reports of a person lying on the right-hand shoulder on the eastbound side of the highway east of Indian Canyon at a little before 5:15 AM.
Read: Pedestrian killed after hit-and-run collision along Interstate 10
Police believe Fuentes was struck by a by a big rig that fled the scene.
His nephew David Quinones said he was with his uncle and his uncle’s girlfriend. They were coming back from a birthday party at about 4 am.
Quinones and Fuentes would often sing together. They were aspiring musicians. Quinones said all three had been drinking that night and his uncle was in a fight with his girlfriend.
“I told him that I was going to get my cigarettes and I got off and I remember my uncle saying ‘Whatever I am going to walk home’ and I went into the store and came out and he was gone,” Quinones said.
Quinones says he tried to call his uncle and have him come back to the car.
“I was like tell me where your going, tell me where you at? And he said ‘I am walking towards the light on the top of the mountain. I am just going to walk there’ and then his phone died. I called him and I called him and it just went straight to voicemail,” Quinones said.
Fuentes was separated from his wife, Leticia Martinez, who was raising their two children in Colorado.
“When I knew that he was with someone and he was happy I was happy for him. All I wanted was for him to be happy,” Martinez said.
Martinez said she still doesn’t even know why Fuentes and his girlfriend were fighting in the first place. “Whatever we do is not going to bring them back, but we all have to pay for whatever we do, I don’t want to judge but I want to know who did it. I want to know exactly what happened,” Martinez said.
The family has set-up a GoFundMe page to raise money so they can transport Fuentes’ body to his Mexico. You can donate here.
CHP is still investigating the incident, but there are no updates on a potential suspect. If you have any information call (760) 772-5300.
CHP is still investigating the incident, but there are no updates on a potential suspect. If you have any information call (760) 772-5300.
