UPDATE: An arrest was made in the hit-and-run. NEW DETAILS HERE
As the search continues for the person and car responsible for the deadly hit-and-run of a 9-year-old boy in the Lehigh Valley Friday night, family and friends planned to memorialize the young victim on Sunday.
In memory of Darius Condash, the boy's football teammates from the East Side Huskies will wear red undershirts during their championship game in Allentown.
"He was a great kid, very outgoing," said Liza Santiago, Darius' aunt. "Phenomenal football player. He had aspirations of going to the NFL."
A small memorial sprung up outside the Wawa Darius visited with his cousins moments before he was struck on the road outside the store.
Darius and his two older cousins went to the Wawa near Schoenersville Road and Route 22 around 6:30 p.m. Friday in Hanover Township. Condash bought his favorite candy, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, from the store. As he was crossing the roadway he dropped one of them and went to pick it up. Suddenly, he was struck by a passing car which fled the scene, according to witnesses.
"I went past cars," said Condash's cousin D'Angelo Martinez. "I saw lights and I was praying. I saw him on the floor laying there."
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Condash was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, where he later died from his injuries. An autopsy revealed that he died of blunt-force trauma.
"It's like a bad dream," Santiago said. "I mean we can't even wrap our brains around it. He didn't deserve this."
Family members believe the hit-and-run driver was intoxicated, based on witness accounts.
"He had to be on something," Martinez said. "No one is gonna just go there, see a little kid, hit him on purpose and just leave."
Police described the striking vehicle as a silver Honda with a raised fin on its trunk. If you have any details on the hit-and-run, please call 610-759-2200.
"He deserves justice," Santiago said. "We want to be able to mourn in peace and we're not going to be able to until we find justice."
