Wife of Drag Victim Cries for Justice from Afar

First I would like to Thank all the people for coming to my cousin’s funeral. He was a wonderful and special person in my life, he was like a son to me and he will be dearly missed. I don’t think it is fair that anyone who did not know him have the right to talk trash about him. I have crossed that street over a million times with him at all hours of the day and trust me we always crossed at the corner, especially the corner where the Bodega is at, it is the safest corner even though drivers tend to zoom their way through the red light. I just wanted to inform you that Guido did not cross in the middle of the block, he was behind the other guy whom crossed at the corner. That is a small block , walking from corner to corner is a short distance and if he was j-walking , don’t you think his body would have been dragged to the other corner? No, he was dragged to the middle of the block, almost in front of the pump. I just want you guys to let him rest in peace. My family and I would appreciate it. We are hurting really bad and with the horrible things that people are saying hurts. I just hope and pray that no one else goes through what we are going through, especially what his wife and his daughter (my god child) are feeling right now. Just let him rest. THANK YOU.

— MRS JARA

Justice for what???

He crossed the street illegally.

For all you non-drivers out there, vehicles do not stop on a dime, even if you going the speed limit (30 mph unless otherwise posted) a driver needs at least 75 ft to fully stop.

The whole scene was caught on video. It was obviously his own fault. He darted into traffic. That is all.

I live near the neighborhood and this is a tragedy.

As the story is told, Guido Carabajo, was returning from his birthday party at 6am. The early morning traffic on 108St is fast here, everyone is going to work He walked through a green light and didnt see the SUV. Closeby is Queens Blvd, called the "highway of death" where deaths are more common.The first driver did the right thing.He stopped and called 911. The second driver has a very big vehicle and may have not seen the body although he sensed something was wrong.No one in their right mind would knowingly drag a body 20 miles to Brighton Beach. The police made the decision. There is a saying in Ecuador..."No es una fiesta sin un muerte". Condolences to his family

Ignore the trolls, guys; it's indicated nowhere that the guy was illegal, and even if he was, so what? Human decency isn't only reserved to people who have green cards or passports.

Justice for what exactly? Accidents happen, and her illegal alien husband was jaywalking in traffic. If anything those two drivers who have been emotionally traumatized by hitting yet another dumb immigrant pedestrian should be compensated for Carabajo-Jara's stupidity.

TSOL - Who f--king cares if they are here legally with respect to this particular issue? Does the guy not deserve a proper funeral if he isn't a citizen?

"Carabajo-Jara's four brothers and sister, Rosa, as well as in-laws and cousins, live in the area and are trying to raise money to send Carabajo-Jara's remains to Ecuador."

I have a hard time believing any of these people are here legally.

Yeah, they're not human beings because they weren't born here. How long you been in NY, dick?

I'm not sure if he saw the guy in the road or not. But if he did, I think he didn't swerve because he didn't want to accidentally run the guy over with his tires. Just figured he would go right under the car...

when he realized he didn't he panicked...

Innocent until proven guilty, but this guy need to be seriously questioned.

Nobody's going to run right over a body lying on the road. Give me a break, it doesn't make any sense. Ask yourself what about the other drivers, who swerved around this chap lying in the road and kept going? They knew a man was down and did nothing, didn't want to be delayed on their journey. Try spreading the scorn around to all deserving parties. And drive safe, y'all!

I believe he did see him. As my comment states before.

He got scared and thought the guy would get loose. He was just freaked probably.

Gothamist,

How/Where can we donate to help return his body to Ecuador for the wake?

Babyhitler,

Touché. It's completely messed up.

It's the "I didn't see him" defense.

I swear, you can be lit up like a Xmas tree

and it's still I didn't see him.

who needs a gun anymore?

ITA. That shouldn't be a legitimate excuse, and it isn't a legitimate excuse in most locales. If you can't see pedestrians on the street, you have no business driving.

If these stories tell us anything, it's that if you want to kill someone and get away with it, use a car. This is fucked up!

(sigh)

I hate it when I agree with babyhitler...

Right or wrong, lately it seems that if you kill someone with a car you get an automatic pass.

To his credit: The driver who hit this poor man, did all the right things. He stopped and called 911.

IMO, the van driver really screwed up. I drive and always keep my eye on the road, especially on local streets.