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DENVER – A driver who reportedly slammed into a man on his bicycle and sped off last December still hasn’t been found. That father did not survive, and now his family is concerned they could lose their home, so they reached out to Contact7 for help.
"That was at Ruby Hill in 1986," said Gloria Gonzales, looking at photos on her phone that bring back memories of the father of her four children, David Martinez – mostly good and some bad.
"This one, he had a fractured skull. He had bleeding on the brain. He had broken eye sockets."
Denver police say the accident happened on December 11, 2018 at approximately 5:30 p.m.
"Right around 33rd and Zuni, he says a car kept veering into him,” said Gonzales, who added Martinez was riding his bike home after work. “He says, 'this guy hit me on purpose.' And he says he just remembered his face hitting the ground."
Martinez survived the crash, only to develop meningitis and die in the hospital less than a month later.
Police are still driving to find the driver who hit him and fled and say they have no leads.
"What they did was a crime. They killed somebody. They destroyed a life," said Gonzales, who said the driver also destroyed her family’s life. "They lost their dad."
Martinez had four grown children who are now learning that even he helped them financially when he could. The master craftsman was behind on his bills, and now they are worried they are going to lose the family home.
The family set up a Go Fund Me account to help pay for medical expenses — a bill they’re now struggling to pay, and many people have already contributed. Just like those who held a memorial ride last month and installed a “ghost bike” in Martinez’s memory where the was hit.
His family said it all helps, and they are still hoping for justice but nothing will bring back the artist, the father or the friend.
"He had a good heart," said Gonzales. “He just wanted some justice for himself when this happened.”
