Ezequiel Morales – Police have identified the man who was killed in a hit-and-run while changing a tire in North Philadelphia Sunday night. The victim was identified as 24-year-old Ezequiel Morales. At 5:58 p.m. police say Morales was hit by a white van on the 4800 block of Whitaker Ave.
The victim was transported to the hospital by medics where he was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m. An investigating officer said Morales was helping change someone’s tire when he was hit. “I do feel very upset for that young man because he was so young and his family. I don’t know what his life was but now it’s gone, that’s a sin that’s horrible,” Elizabeth McDonald a neighbor said.
Police say the white van was last seen fleeing the area heading northbound on Whitaker Avenue and the driver then ditched the van not far from the scene and ran away. At this time police do not have any suspects.
This is the second hit-and-run in Philly over this past weekend, the other involving 76er Kelly Oubre Jr. who suffered a broken rib and hurt his hip and leg.
Representatives from the Bike Coalition of Greater Philadelphia are asking for more laws to keep drivers accountable. They say Philly has seen fatal hit-and-run numbers double in the last few years, from 16 pre-pandemic in 2019 to at least 38 so far this year.
“This is why we need vision zero more than ever because the city is still experiencing a very terrible epidemic of traffic violence since the pandemic” Sarah Clark Stuart, with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, said.