Driver in fatal hit-and-run charged, not yet arrested
Investigators have identified and charged the driver in a fatal crash Sunday that killed a woman driving home from church, Milwaukee police said Tuesday.
But Juan C. Mata-Chavez, 27, remained at large as of early Tuesday afternoon. Investigators asked that anyone with information on his whereabouts call Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360.
The identification comes after two people who said they were passengers in Mata-Chavez’s speeding pickup truck voluntarily came to police, one Sunday night and one earlier Tuesday. Both passengers were questioned and released.
According to the criminal complaint, a 23-year-old woman passenger in the truck told police she came forward after learning the other driver had died and “she could not live with that in her heart.”
Mata-Chavez’s truck slammed into Monica Hernandez’s Toyota Corolla, killing the 43-year-old Milwaukee woman as she went home from church. A GoFundMe site has been established to help raise money for Hernandez’s family.
Mata-Chavez was charged Tuesday with hit-andrun involving death and knowingly driving while his license was revoked, causing death. Records show his probationary license was revoked after a first-offense drunken driving conviction in 2016.
Hernandez was driving home from Mass at St. Hyacinth Parish and traveling west on West Lincoln Avenue when a Dodge Ram truck traveling east at “freeway speeds” began fishtailing, lost control and struck Hernandez’s car at 11 a.m. Sunday, according to the Milwaukee County medical examiner’s report.
Hernandez, who was wearing a seatbelt, was awake and talking when she arrived at Froedtert Hospital shortly before noon. She suffered broken legs and internal injuries. But despite efforts of emergency room personnel, she soon lost consciousness and died about 2 p.m.
Nancy Andrade said her aunt frequently attended Mass at St. Hyacinth and was devoted to her 13-yearold son, Jonathan, who suffered a broken wrist in the crash.
“She was a quiet person. Her main priority was Johnny,” Andrade said in a phone interview Tuesday.
Hernandez lived with Andrade and her mother, who is Hernandez’s sister.
“I know she was a wonderful woman,” Andrade said. “I just hope the people who did this take responsibility. They’re a danger to the community.”