Colorado father sacrifices his life to save daughter in auto-ped crash
A Colorado family is mourning the loss of a father who sacrificed his own life to save his daughter.
"He loved his family. He was a family guy," said Sabrina Chavez.
Chavez is the common-law wife of 35-year-old Alonzo Garcia. She says their daughter, 2-year-old Lizbeth, meant the world to him.
"He didn't deserve this," said Chavez.
"He would spend time singing a friend in me from 'Toy Story' to her. He would sit by her bedside and wait for her to fall asleep," said Karla Alanis, Garcia's sister.
It was an inseparable bond his family never thought would be cut short so soon.
"She sees pictures of her dad. She asks where her dad is," said Alanis.
"He loved the Broncos. He really loved the Broncos, and since his daughter was born, he really enjoyed his time with her," said Maria Garcia, his mother. "He loved her, he adored that girl."
On Dec. 7, Garcia took his daughter on a walk to the store in Denver's Montbello neighborhood. While crossing the intersection of 51st and Scranton Streets, a car allegedly sped through the intersection and struck Garcia.
Denver police tell CBS News Colorado the incident happened around 5:25 p.m. The family says the driver did remain on the scene but was uninsured at the time of the incident.
"Alonzo miraculously had a chance to push the baby out the way, the baby fell on her stroller, avoiding being hit, saving her life," said Alanis.
Garcia was quickly hospitalized after putting his life in harm's way to save his daughter.
"They found a fractured ankle in four places, his broken elbow, broken ribs, and some fracture in his head during impact," said Alanis.
The family says after a day and a half in the hospital, he was cleared to go home and await surgery. However, their nightmare continued throughout the weekend.
"We brought him home. He wasn't doing good. He was screaming and crying," said Chavez.
It was on Sunday morning, Chavez decided to take Garcia back to the hospital because they thought his condition was worsening. As they were getting ready to go, she found him unresponsive.
"The paramedics got here. They performed live saving measures for 45 minutes and then unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries and then passed away," said Alanis. "That was my everything. That was my heart in human form."
His family is now crowdfunding to help cover the cost of this father's death. While they continue to mourn his loss, they also remain with questions as to whether his death could have been prevented.
"Just for anyone driving at night, please be careful of pedestrians crossing. Drive the speed limit. If you do hit someone, stay on scene. Make sure they're okay and to have insurance when you drive," said Alanis. "Because now we're stuck with all the bills to pay for my brother, and we didn't expect that to happen."
The family tells me the official cause of death is still unknown at this time. Denver police say the medical examiner's office will determine the cause of death.
"He tried, he saved his daughter. That's all that matters. He lives on through her," said Alanis.
