Twenty minutes before he left his Queens apartment for work Tuesday, Edward Luyo tried to reach his long-distance girlfriend. Her phone was on silent and she missed the call.
By the time she checked her phone, her 44-year-old boyfriend was dead, dragged along the street just steps away from his Elmhurst home by a hit-and-run driver.
The driver of the gray 2015 Nissan Versa sped off west on Whitney Ave. after striking the victim victim midblock near Macnish St. about 4:30 p.m., cops say. His girlfriend had her phone on silent while working and missed a call from him at 4:07 p.m.
“I didn’t notice that I had the missed call until after 5, when his mom was repeatedly calling me to let me know that he was in a serious accident,” Luyo’s girlfriend, Violet Cannistraci, said.
“After that, I immediately tried to reach out to him but his phone, I don’t know if it got damaged or the battery died or something, but then I couldn’t reach him. It was too late.”
“It’s heartbreaking,” she added. “We don’t know how we can continue with our lives without him.”
A co-worker who was walking with Luyo to the train watched helplessly as the heartless motorist sped off.
“The car had just hit him and drove over him and then he got caught under the back wheel and was dragged about half of a block down the street by that car,” said the friend, who did not want to be named.
“They were driving fast and that was part of the reason why they dragged him,” the friend said in Spanish. “If they had just hit him and they weren’t speeding then he probably would still be here today.”
Medics rushed Luyo to Elmhurst Hospital but he could not be saved.
Luyo, who owned a concrete flooring company with his brother, was on his way to a Manhattan job site with the co-worker, but never made it even to the subway. The co-worker said the driver stopped just long enough for him to get a license plate number, which he shared with police.
Edward Luyo with his girlfriend, Violet Cannistraci. (Courtesy of Family)
Accused driver Jose Dilone Duran, 53, was arrested about three hours after the crash. He is charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failure to exercise due care. The suspect lives in NYCHA’s Astoria Houses, according to cops.
Luyo lived with his mother, who he took care of.
“He was a good son,” his mother, Elizabeth Ayala, told The News in Spanish. “He was very noble.”
Cannistraci, who lives in upstate New York, said Luyo had weathered many challenges, including being in a long-distance relationship.
“I loved him very much,” she said. “The thought that I have to wake up every morning and think about him and know that he’s not in my life anymore is very painful.”
The couple were talking about getting married.
“We actually had plans to take a road trip back out west to go to Utah,” she said. “We were just waiting for him to finish this large job that he just acquired. There was a hike that we wanted to do called Angel’s Landing at Zion National Park and he said that he wanted to propose to me if we were able to make it to the top.”
“That that was kind of his dream, to propose in that location,” she added. “He had been telling his mom that he was most likely going to be leaving soon.”
Edward Luyo with his girlfriend, Violet Cannistraci. (Courtesy of Family)
Traveling and visiting national parks was one of Luyo’s favorite hobbies. He emigrated to the U.S. from Peru as a teen.
“We really enjoyed being in nature and hiking. So, like Utah and Arizona and Colorado, those were some of our favorite spots,” Cannistraci said. “We would do different excursions, like kayaking, things like that.”
“Anyone that needed anything, he was there to help them and he didn’t expect anything in return. It was just the kind of person that he was,” she added. “He always took really good care of me. He was there whenever I needed him and it’s like I didn’t have to ask him for anything. He would just see where there was a need and he would fill it.”
In between their trips to visit national parks together, the couple enjoyed attending death metal concerts and collecting crystals.
“He was the hardest working man I ever knew and he was also very intelligent,” his girlfriend said. “He was self educated. He was always reading. I learned so much from him.”
A GoFundMe to cover Luyo’s funeral expenses and support his family has raised over $5,000.
Edward Luyo. (GoFundMe)
“He was a curious person and loved to learn new things, always passing that knowledge onto others,” the fundraiser says. “He was intrigued by searching for treasures such as antiques or crystals to add to his growing collection at home.”
Dilone Duran’s arraignment was still pending in Queens Criminal Court Sunday.
She said Luyo‘s death is not only tragic. It’s unforgivable.
“There’s nothing that can be said or done to bring his life back and it’s heartbreaking,” she said. “We would definitely not want this to happen to anyone else.”
With Thomas Tracy