PHOENIX — A man is dead and another is in custody after a hit-and-run crash overnight in north Phoenix.
Phoenix police say around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, they received a call about a serious crash involving a pedestrian near 43rd Avenue and Bell Road.
Officers learned that a sedan believed to be involved in the accident had fled the scene.
A witness reportedly followed the vehicle, and officers located it a short distance away being driven by 21-year-old Even Alamos Santivanez. Santivanez was taken into custody.
The pedestrian who was hit, later identified as 41-year-old Daniel Callanta, was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
A small memorial can be seen near the scene of the crash. That's the spot where Annalisa says she spent the last moments with her friend.
"I was sitting there talking to him, letting him know the paramedics were coming and I said a prayer with him. I let him know I love him," says Annalisa.
Annalisa tells us a group of transients were told to move their carts away from the property they were at, around 2:30 a.m.
"We were moving them across the street and he went over the median there and when he went over the median, the car was flying down the road," says Annalisa.
We're told Daniel was hit and Phoenix police say the driver involved took off.
"All you seen was everything flying in the air and the carts were mangled and everything. What he done was wrong. He should have stopped and got out," says Annalisa.
Officers were able to locate the car nearby after a witness followed the driver. 21-year-old Even Santivanez was taken into custody.
"That was a blessing and to him, I commend him. Thank you; thank you for doing that," says Annalisa.
Daniel was taken to a hospital where he later died. His friend Annalisa says this incident brings up a wider problem they face.
"Make these people understand that we aren't bad people; we're really good people. We're not about drugs, gang and violence and all that... we're about getting our life back together," she says.
She says that's exactly what Daniel was trying to do. Instead, memories are all they have left. Annalisa and others have left candles in his honor as she tells us, they all considered him as family.
"I miss you, Daniel," says Annalisa.
Authorities have not said what may have led up to the crash.
Phoenix police continue to investigate the crash.
