More than six months ago, a hit-and-run driver killed a man in Rockford. The man’s daughter says her family won’t be able to rest until the driver is caught.
He was crossing East State Street and Arnold Avenue around 8:30 a.m. on Friday, September 15, 2023, when he was hit by a car. Jose de la Luz Paz is 61 years old.
Jessi Ortiz, Paz’s daughter, said, “He was riding a bike to work.”
Ortiz said things were getting better after her father was taken to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in serious condition, but they got worse.
“My dad died a few days after being in the hospital,” she said.
The Winnebago County Coroner’s Office says Paz died at the hospital on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, from damage to his head.
Ortiz said that the fact that the person who killed her father is still on the loose makes her family’s problems a little worse every day.
Oriz, 34, said, “We have no idea who the person is.” “I don’t know if the police are still in the case.”
Ortiz also said that her family doesn’t want payback, they just want justice.
“It would be fair that they catch the person who killed him,” she added.
People who saw what happened say it was a tan Toyota Camry from 1997 to 1999 that hit Paz and drove away before police and help came. The badly damaged car was found in Minnesota, but the driver had not been found. No information has been given about who owns the Toyota.
The probe is still going on, according to the Rockford Police Department. There is still a GoFundMe effort going on to help Paz’s family pay for his funeral and medical bills.
Call the Rockford Police Department at 815-966-2900 or the Rockford Area Crime Stoppers at 815-963-7867 if you know anything about Jose de la Luz Paz’s death.
