by GENEVIEVE CURTIS, KFOX StaffSunday, November 25th 2018

(video may be viewed at source link)

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX) - Police arrested the man they say was behind the wheel in a deadly hit and run Thanksgiving morning in El Paso, Texas.

Joel Velazquez, 24, is now facing charges of an accident involving death.


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At the time of the crash Velazquez was out on bond from a 2017 assault charge.

He appears to be in the country illegally and is now currently on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention hold, related to his immigration status, meaning he cannot bond out of jail.

Police say he blew through a red light just before 2 a.m. Thursday.

That's when he hit Amanda “Mandy” Ferguson Weyant, who was in the crosswalk, and took off. Police later found his vehicle abandoned.

Mandy was a sixth-grade teacher at Eastwood Heights Elementary School.

The community has been mourning her throughout the holiday weekend.

Her family wants the man responsible for their daughter’s death to be held accountable.

“He’s destroyed my family. My daughter, Mandy, was the glue that held my family in place, she was my everything,” said Dan Ferguson.

Saturday morning, he received a call from EPPD, telling him the man who hit his 28-year-old daughter Mandy, a bubbly sixth-grade teacher, turned himself in, two days after fleeing the scene.

“I saw where my daughter was hit and where her body was 50 feet from the point of contact. He didn’t even attempt to stop to render aid,” said Ferguson.

There was some relief, but also frustration.

“This man, because of his careless actions, has destroyed a complete family,” said Ferguson.

The family says they learned Velazquez had a criminal past and was in the country illegally.

“It just doesn’t add up, it doesn’t seem to be fair,” said Ferguson.

Mandy’s parents try to find peace in the memories and joy their daughter brought to so many people.

“She was my world, she was my wife’s best friend, but she was my baby girl,” said Ferguson
But they also want accountability and justice for Mandy.

“Everything was perfect in her life and to have it all taken and senselessly destroyed this is something no parent should go through,” said Ferguson.
Funeral services for Mandy will be Wednesday, Nov. 28 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Crest View Funeral Home 1426 Zaragoza.

https://wlos.com/news/nation-world/t...n-us-illegally