Children of couple killed seek help finding driver

A second person has died after being struck in Seymour last week by a hit-and-run driver.

Barbara Tamborra, 81, died Wednesday night at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Deputy Chief Roberto Rinaldi said Thursday. She and her husband, James Tamborra, also 81, had been crossing Bank Street, or Route 67, with help from an officer at the time of the Dec. 10 collision. James Tamborra died later that night.

Police continue to look for the car police said struck the couple, a dark-colored, 2014-2016 Acura MDX. Rinaldi said the passenger-side headlight assembly is damaged.

The deadly collision happened shortly after 6 p.m., when Officer Dedrick Wilcox was helping the couple cross the street near the Miller-ward Funeral Home, where they had attended a wake. An eastbound car “approached them at a high rate of speed,” police said.

Wilcox signaled for the vehicle to stop, but it did not, and nearly struck him. The officer was able to move out of the way before it struck the Tamborras and continued on without stopping, police said.

The Tamborras’ children this week tearfully asked the public to help the police find the person responsible.

“They want justice and closure,” Rinaldi said. “This is going to affect them the rest of their lives around the holidays.”

Anyone who saw the hit-and-run or who might have information about the car is asked to call police, who took the unusual step of releasing the lead investigator’s cellphone number: Police Commander David Parratt may be reached at 203-881-7610 or on his work cell at 203-915-2517, police said.