{"id":87632,"date":"2026-01-02T21:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T21:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/87632\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T21:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T21:06:09","slug":"memorial-grows-for-man-killed-by-hit-and-run-driver-in-queens-friend-critically-injured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/87632\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial grows for man killed by hit-and-run driver in Queens, friend critically injured"},"content":{"rendered":"

A makeshift memorial was growing Friday morning for one of the victims of a hit-and-run in Queens early New Year’s Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two friends were walking home from a New Year’s Eve celebration when they were struck at 102nd Street and 37th Avenue around 4 a.m. by a speeding white SUV.<\/p>\n

Video shows the driver hit the brakes before the vehicle speeds off.<\/p>\n

Investigators say 25-year-old Darwin Adrian Malan Cargua was killed.<\/p>\n

\"Darwin<\/p>\n

Darwin Cargua<\/p>\n

Angel Daquoelema says his nephew worked in construction and came to New York for a better life and a way to provide for his family.<\/p>\n

His family says he worked nonstop to care for his mother and siblings.<\/p>\n

Luis Romero was the other victim who was hit and critically injured. Friday is his 25th birthday.<\/p>\n

As he remains hospitalized fighting to stay alive, his friends say they are also thinking of his young child.<\/p>\n

Both victims are Ecuadorian immigrants.<\/p>\n

At a growing memorial, next to the candles struggling to stay lit in the bitter cold and beneath the flowers coated in icicles, is a tin can collecting donations.<\/p>\n

But what their families really want is an arrest.<\/p>\n

The victim’s uncle says they are also desperately trying to find a way to send his nephew’s body back home to Ecuador.<\/p>\n

———-
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Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A makeshift memorial was growing Friday morning for one of the victims of a hit-and-run in Queens early…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[42192,42191,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-87632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-darwin-adrian-malan-cargua","tag-makeshift-memorial","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}