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Two NJ women killed in hit-and-run crash as they walked home from World Cup watch party

New York Post • June 25, 2026 • nation

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Two New Jersey women, Mariana Elizabeth Valverde Beltran (58) and Maria Isabel DeLosAngeles Salgado Ayala (61), were fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver while walking home from a World Cup watch party in Newark.
Surveillance footage showed 26-year-old David J. Zapata-Vera speeding through an intersection and hitting the women, who were sent airborne; witnesses reported he accelerated through a changing traffic light.
The victims were taken to University Hospital Newark where they were pronounced dead, leaving their families deeply traumatized.
Zapata-Vera surrendered to police three days after the incident and faces multiple charges, including second-degree vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
He is currently held without bond at Essex County jail.

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