‘It’s just crazy’: Family feels familiar grief after Bartow teen killed in hit-and-run
POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — “He was just such a good kid,” said Dakota Runyon about her younger brother, Zachariah Clabough.
Clabough, she said, loved skateboarding, playing video games and making the people around him smile.
“He was just so funny. He was always making us laugh. We are just so heartbroken over this entire thing,” said Runyon.
Clabough, a high school senior, died Wednesday morning while walking to Bartow High School.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Edgardo Joel Rosado Perez, of Lakeland, dropped his daughter off at Bartow High School before he fled a minor crash.
As he was speeding down Jackson Avenue, Perez struck Clabough and fled again, the FHP said.
He was located inside the Brandon Mall hours later.
“There was no apology. There was no making sure he was ok. There was no waiting. There was no calling 911. There was nothing. You just left,” said Runyon.
Perez has a pretrial detention hearing scheduled in Hillsborough County Monday morning.
Clabough was about to hit major milestones in his young life, including buying his first car and graduating high school.
“He still had his whole life ahead of him and we just lost our dad to the same thing and it’s just crazy to go through the same thing all over again,” said Runyon.
Their father, William “Bill” Clabough, died in September 2020.
He was standing at a gas station counter when a car crashed through the store and pinned him.
The driver, Demarcus Jefferson, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for DUI manslaughter and other charges in January of this year.
“It’s just crazy. I think the second time has really hit me hard because you can’t imagine going through this once, but going through this twice? It’s just crazy,” said Runyon.
Runyon said her brother, Zachariah, wanted to graduate high school in honor of their father.
Clabough was the third person killed in a hit and run crash in Polk County this week.
The Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a 27-year old bicyclist in Davenport Tuesday night.
The bicyclist was hit by a black Dodge Challenger, which fled the scene after the crash, according to FHP.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said a 58-year old man from Alabama died after being hit by a car that did not stop in Lakeland Sunday evening.
“It’s a depraved mind that doesn’t stop when they hit someone. It’s a really depraved mind that doesn’t stop when they hit a child or a teenager,” said Sheriff Grady Judd.
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