Grieving family and friends of Daniel Ortiz gathered by candlelight Saturday night to remember the 20 year old. Ortiz was found lying in the street after being run down in the early hours of Feb. 9 as he crossed Studebaker Road at Foster Road in Norwalk while riding his skateboard. Investigators said he was in the crosswalk at the time.
"It was 4:30 in the morning approximately when this happened, so there probably were not a whole lot of people out at that time," said Sgt. Chris Johnson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
While investigators have yet to find any witnesses to the fatal crash, debris left behind at the scene indicates the vehicle that hit Ortiz was a 2003 to 2006 dark blue Nissan Titan pickup truck.
"Whoever hit him, he wasn't just anybody. You didn't just hit anybody, you hit somebody and that somebody is my brother," said the victim's sister, Theresa Macias.
Family and friends said Ortiz was a kind and fun-loving guy who loved sports, especially football. He played football from Pop Warner to Norwalk High.
"He was just an outstanding person, he was an all-around good person. Basically he would take his shirt off his back to give it to you," said his brother, Joe Macias.
The family is offering a $5,000 reward to bring his killer to justice.
"We just want justice for my son," the mother said. "Whoever knows anything or the person that did this, the hit-and-run to my son, that they come forward, or that somebody who knows anything to call the Norwalk sheriff's."
Anyone with information was asked to contact the sheriff's Norwalk station at (562-) 863-8711.
