Vigil honors 52-year-old man killed in DUI crash in Las Vegas
Eric Echevarria’s family cried out for justice in a candlelit dirt field near the southwestern Las Vegas intersection where he was killed in a suspected DUI crash on Wednesday.
About 100 people gathered at Fort Apache Road and Furnace Gulch Avenue on Sunday night for the candlelight vigil in Echevarria’s honor. Religious music played while the group held candles around photos of Echevarria surrounded by flowers, candles and balloons.
The 52-year-old Army and National Guard veteran, who worked as a custodian at a local elementary school, died in a collision Wednesday afternoon. The Metropolitan Police Department has said Echevarria was trying to turn left when his 2016 Hyundai Accent was struck by a 2016 Dodge Challenger driven by 19-year-old Zaon Collins, who investigators say was speeding in a 35 mph zone.
Collins, a star basketball player at Bishop Gorman High School and the top recruit of this year’s UNLV class, was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure ordered Collins released from jail Thursday on “the highest level” of electronic monitoring and ordered him not to drive and to abstain from alcohol and drugs.
Evelina Sulrzycki, Echevarria’s sister-in-law, said the family just wants justice to be served in her brother-in-law’s death. She said she’s worried that the case will slip through the cracks because of Collins’ athletic status.
“It’s unfortunate that they’re making this kid look like a hero just because he knows how to play basketball, yet he took someone who was a father, a grandpa, a husband, a veteran,” Sulrzycki said. “He was everything, yet they’re not acknowledging that. They’re only acknowledging that this kid was an athlete, but what good is an athlete when you’re taking a hero?”
Eric Echevarria’s wife, Annmarie, said she knows that Collins is young and made a mistake, but she wants to be sure that he’s held accountable.
“I don’t want to share any hate or anything for this boy that did this, but he needs to be held accountable,” Echevarria said. “He needs to be held accountable for killing my husband.”
After a handful of family members spoke about Eric Echevarria, they held a moment of silence, and his wife broke down in sobs while her sister Sulrzycki comforted her. After a song played, friends and family members who attended the vigil filed through to pay their respects and hug Annmarie Echevarria.
Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Bret Ficklin attended the vigil, looking down at the flickering flame as he paid his respects. Ficklin said that he was one of the officers who had responded to the crash Wednesday and that it was important to him to attend the vigil.
Ficklin said that in the first three days of the new year, Metro has responded to three fatal traffic collisions. Andrew Bennett, a spokesman for the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety who also attended the vigil, said there have been seven traffic fatalities in the state in 2021.
“It’s just so frustrating and so tragic, because every single one of these is preventable,” Ficklin said. “And I understand that the driver in this crash was a minor, but there has to be some consequences. Things won’t get better if nobody has to take responsibility for their actions on the road.”
Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.