A South Florida man is facing the unimaginable, going to sleep without his wife by his side after nearly four decades together and grappling with the moment a driver took her life while she attempted to cross a street in Hialeah.
A lifelong partnership ended suddenly
Gregorio Delgado tells CBS News Miami he and his wife, 61-year-old Delia Annet Delgado, were soulmates. “My wife of many, many years. How do you think I feel?” he said, shedding tears.
The couple met at a Miami dance club in the 1980s and were inseparable. “We did everything together. We were inseparable. She was everything,” Delgado said.
The day it all changed
Delgado said he went out Monday morning to clean a family member’s AC unit and asked Annet if she wanted to come along. She declined, saying she had to run an errand. That afternoon, he received the devastating call from police.
“My heart was pounding so heavy, it wanted to come out of my chest. I started shaking; I almost fainted,” Delgado recalled.
Surveillance shows deadly moments
Video shows Delia pressing what appears to be the crosswalk button at the intersection of East 4th Ave. and 49th Street. A black SUV pulls up to make a right turn. She begins crossing the street—and is struck. The driver pauses briefly, then the SUV rolls over her again.
Delgado described the scene: “He was apparently so hurry to turn—my wife was going like this (waves arms) so he can see her, he didn’t bother to see her. He ran over my wife and his tire and everything went over her face and body.”
Remembering a joyful life
When asked how he wants his wife to be remembered, Delgado said, “A happy person, a dancing person, — that’s how I want it… That’s how we’re always going to remember her.”
Legal questions remain
Investigators have called the incident an “unfortunate accident” and say the driver is not facing charges.
Delgado said he wants the driver to be held responsible and will explore legal options after preparing for his wife’s funeral.
