Two women who had spent a Saturday night cheering on Ecuador at a World Cup viewing party were struck and killed in a Newark crosswalk moments after leaving the gathering, in a hit-and-run that authorities say was caught on street surveillance video. A 26-year-old local man has since surrendered and faces homicide charges.
The victims were Mariana Elizabeth Valverde Beltran, 58, of Elizabeth, and Maria Isabel DeLosAngeles Salgado Ayala, 61, of Newark, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. The two were lifelong friends who grew up together in Ecuador before settling in New Jersey, relatives told WABC.
What happened
The collision occurred around 11 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, at the intersection of Park Avenue and North 7th Street, investigators said. The women were inside the crosswalk when a sedan tore through the intersection, hurling both into the air before speeding off north on North 7th Street without stopping. They were rushed to University Hospital in Newark, where both were pronounced dead.
Surveillance footage obtained by ABC7 captured bystanders frozen in horror in the seconds after the impact. One witness, Manuel Candelaria, told reporters the driver appeared to hit the accelerator as the signal was changing, adding: "I don't know if he was drunk, but anyway, he put the gas".
The watch party the friends were leaving had been for Ecuador's group-stage match against Curaçao, which ended in a draw. Both women were reportedly dressed in the yellow of the Ecuadorian national side.
The arrest and charges
The driver fled the scene but turned himself in three days later. David J. Zapata-Vera, 26, of Newark, surrendered on Tuesday, June 23, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II and Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda announced.
Zapata-Vera is charged with two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, two counts of second-degree leaving the scene of a fatal crash, and two counts of third-degree endangering an injured victim. He is being held without bond at the Essex County jail. Prosecutors stressed the charges are allegations and that he is presumed innocent. It remains unclear whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
A grim pattern around the 2026 tournament
The Newark deaths are not an isolated case of World Cup celebrations turning fatal. Days earlier, on June 24, a vehicle plowed into a crowd celebrating Mexico's 3-0 win over Czechia in the resort city of Los Cabos, injuring at least 17 people. Authorities said the driver, hemmed in by revelers on the road, suddenly accelerated; the driver was detained at the scene.
The case against Zapata-Vera remains under investigation.
