The daughter of a 72-year-old lady killed by a hit-and-run driver five years ago is pleased that authorities have finally apprehended her mother’s killer, she told the Daily News on Friday.
“I am numb. I’m happy. “I can’t believe it,” said Gloria Lascano-Vargas, 52, whose mother, Gilda Lascano, was killed in the September 10, 2019 crash.
“It’s one of those ‘Is this happening?’ moments. Is this true? Throughout these years… “I was in shock and in tears,” the victim’s daughter stated.
Naquan Young, 46, was arrested in South Richmond Hill on Thursday afternoon and charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, and leaving the scene of a collision in connection with the 2019 mishap that killed Lascano. Young fled the scene on foot after the collision, which left his Lexus and Lascano’s Honda SUV wrecked, according to police.
Now that Young has been apprehended, his victim’s family is ready to see him face jail time for abandoning Gilda Lascano to die, according to her daughter.
“We only want justice. “We want to make sure he gets the 15 years and hopefully put it behind him,” the daughter said. “My mother can finally rest in peace. I just want to know why you’d do anything like that.
Lascano, a cleaner at an Estee Lauder counter in Manhattan, was in the rear seat of the SUV as it drove down 126th St. around 1:30 a.m. when Young ran a red light at 111th Ave. and collided with her car.
Police said she died at the scene, which was only a block away from her home.
“The back end of the car they were in had been completely demolished. “You could only see the frame,” neighbor Joel Rios recalled of Lascano’s car at the time. “The silver Lexus made a strong impact… “The entire front was damaged.
The 56-year-old woman driving the Honda was sent to Jamaica Hospital with significant injuries, but she survived.
“A few people were saying the lady under the truck was still alive, so I wanted to see if she was breathing,” Rios related to Lascano. “I called out to her, but she did not react. There was no movement in her chest. Our neighbors informed us that it was their mother and that her friend was dropping her up at home after work.
Lascano, an Ecuadorian native, had lived in the United States for 38 years, according to a grieved family who were taken aback when Young fled the scene.
“Who runs from an accident when they see a person dying?” After the crash, Lascano’s son-in-law, Antonio Vargas, 47, spoke out. “She was a hardworking woman.” She was planning to retire in a few months.
“She was a loving person and she died like that,” he informed us. “She was like a mother to me for thirty years. She was always there to defend and support me. She adored me. “I’m just shocked.”
Gilda Lascano was the glue that held her family together, and since her tragic death, her loved ones have grown apart, according to her daughter.
“(Young) broke us up,” the daughter explained. “We’re all scattered, and we’re not as close as we were before.”
Young lives in South Ozone Park, which is roughly a mile from the crash. During their investigation, detectives long suspected Young was driving, but he wasn’t considered an official suspect until he was linked to DNA retrieved from the Lexus’ airbag, according to one police source.
“The detective…” He added, ‘Believe me, we are 100% convinced that this is the guy,'” Gloria Lascano-Vargas recounted.
According to the source, he had already been jailed in Pennsylvania for separate drunk driving and narcotics possession charges.
The alleged hit-and-run driver has a criminal record that includes six arrests, the majority of which were for narcotics possession and grand larceny, according to police. He has never served any prison time. According to officials, Young was arrested for grand larceny following the hit-and-run in 2020. That was his last arrest before Thursday nydailynews stated.
The Queens district attorney’s office indicted Young on manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges. Following the conclusion of his criminal prosecution in Pennsylvania, members of the NYPD’s Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended him.
Following a brief court appearance early Friday, he was ordered jailed without bail.
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