Suspect charged in hit-and-run that killed 68-year-old man

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A suspect has been charged in connection to a hit-and-run crash that killed a 68-year-old man on Oct. 19.

Jeremaya Gross, 21, is charged with hit and run resulting in death. 

Mendez's daughter, Syliva Morbeck, held out hope her father would live after the hit-and-run. At the time, doctors thought only half his brain was dead.

"I see him with scrapes underneath his arms," Morbeck said. "I see him with his head, you know, bloody. His face swelled up, and everything like that. It was very devastating to me to see that."

According to a criminal complaint, the crash happened at the intersection of 23rd and Greenfield Avenue. Video obtained by law enforcement showed a pedestrian, later identified as Roy Mendez, step off the curb at the southeast corner of the intersection and begin walking northbound within a crosswalk. A car traveling on Greenfield then strikes him directly as he is nearly halfway across the street, still within the crosswalk.

The vehicle then continues eastbound without stopping. A piece of vehicle found at the crash scene was linked to a Honda Accord Coupe. Five days later, MPD located a vehicle of that make and model that had damage consistent with an accident. The vehicle was registered to Gross. Mendez was taken to a hospital and died 11 days later. In an interview, Gross admitted to officers that he hit someone and did not stop because he didn't want to go back to jail.

"He wanted to get away so bad from going back to jail, that he left a man there to die without even calling the paramedics," Morbeck said. "I'm very angry with him." 

Morbeck had a message for her dad after hearing the news.

"Dad I'm so happy that we caught this person. I'm so happy, and you have justice, finally. Justice is being served."

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