Grieving brother speaks out after 14-year-old sibling killed by car in SW Miami-Dade
MIAMI - A grieving Southwest Miami-Dade man is speaking to CBS News Miami after his 14-year-old brother was struck and killed by a car Tuesday night.
Yoel Diaz said his younger brother, Lazaro Martinez, Jr. had been a student at Palm Glades Preparatory Academy not far from their home and had been walking home with his 10-year-old brother after playing football near the school around 6 p.m.
"This is unexplainable," said Diaz. "He was just a kid. He was just 14 years old. He was playing football across the street. This could have been anyone else's kid and I don't want anybody to go through what we have been going through."
Diaz shared a photo of him during a happier moment as his brother's football coach. It shows Martinez in his football uniform.
"He was my brother and I was his football coach. I was his everything and everything that he did he came to me first. Like basically I was his father and his brother. I was his everything and it hurts me to know that he is gone," Diaz said.
"He played football at Palm Glades," said Diaz, as he fought back tears. "He still had a long way ahead of him."
He said this was particularly painful for his family as they gather for this Thanksgiving Day holiday.
"This is going to be very hard just due to the fact that this Thanksgiving we are going to have a big family reunion with family that we haven't seen in 15 years and now we are going to have to go on without him," he said.
The accident happened in darkness as Martinez was walking across busy S.W. 112th Avenue in the dark just north of 232nd Street. He was not in a crosswalk.
"It's crazy," he said. "There need to be more lights there."
The Florida Highway Patrol said Martinez was struck by a black Audi and said the driver remained on the scene and has not been cited.
Diaz is urging all drivers to be careful.
He said, "My message is everyone, please, especially if you are on main roads or near schools and parks, please slow down."