‘LOVED BY SO MANY’
Brooklyn hit-run victim killed after night out with new pals
A man killed by a Brooklyn hit-and-run driver had recently moved to New York and texted a friend just before his death saying how much fun he was having with his new pals who later survived the crash, heartbroken family members said.
Hayden Wallace, 29, was riding in a Toyota Yaris heading east on Stockholm St. in Bushwick when the driver of a Kia Sportage slammed into them at Irving Ave. at about 12:45 a.m. on Jan. 8, police said. His three new friends in the Yaris with him survived but were seriously hurt.
Wallace’s family believes his new pals were dropping him off at his apartment when the still-on-the-loose Kia driver slammed into them. Wallace was just half a mile from home when he was killed.
“They’re new friends of his,” Wallace’s mother, Audri Cannon, said of the survivors. “I had talked to him one week before, and he had told me about these new friends.”
Wallace, who grew up in Dallas and moved to New York last year, wanted to become more involved in his local LGBTQ community.
“He had texted [his best friend] that night saying, ‘I’m having such a good time, and I met some new people,’ ” his aunt Kippy Perkins said of the night of the crash. “He hadn’t met that many people in the gay community, so he was super excited. And he said he had a great night.”
The impact of the crash sent the Toyota that Wallace and his pals were riding in careening toward three parked cars. The Kia driver and his passengers ditched their damaged vehicle and ran off. Cops are still hunting for them.
Medics rushed Wallace and his new pals to Elmhurst Hospital Center. Wallace did not survive and two of his friends were left in critical condition.
“He lived life to the fullest,” Perkins said of Wallace. “He was only 29 years old and lit up every room he entered. He was loved by so many.”
The Yaris was being driven by Jorge Sanchez de Lozada Haiek, 26, whom police charged with aggravated driving without a license after the crash. He was in stable condition at Elmhurst Hospital.
Before crossing paths with his new friends, Wallace took a gap year after high school and moved to Lima, Peru, where he taught English. Afterward, he enrolled at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and eventually obtained a master’s degree from Freiberg University in Germany.
“He has traveled all over the world and has friends from all over the world that are coming to Dallas for his funeral,” said Perkins. “You wouldn’t believe the people who are coming from all over the world who are paying tribute to him.”
He also spent time living in Chile and Berlin, a city he dreamed of moving back to.
“He wanted to get German citizenship so he could live and stay in Berlin and get a good job [there],” Perkins said. “He would go for a weekend. He loved Berlin.”
Wallace worked as a gate agent for American Airlines at Kennedy Airport, where he was a beloved employee.
“He was a nice guy,” Wallace’s New York landlord Mathew Macdonald said. ‘He traveled a lot. Most of his friends lived outside of the U.S., and he often visited them.”
“He wanted to live a life of travel,” added Wallace’s roommate, who gave his name as Ryan. “He was really nice guy. He always seemed very smiley, very upbeat, very happy. He was getting into the routine of working in the airport for a month and a half and then traveling for two or three weeks. Working and traveling. So that was kind of the routine that he wanted to have.”
Wallace was passionate about music, art, his family and friends, according to Perkins.
“When we went to New York [last week] to try to figure things out, 12 of his friends met us at the [airport] gate and told us how much they loved him,” Perkins said. “One of his friends was pregnant and said she’s going to name her baby after him.”
“Just a bright light,” the distraught aunt said. “He was everyone’s best friend. It’s just tragic.”
Critically hurt in the crash was Brent “Breakfast” Grabowski, 34, who needed surgery where their spleen was removed, friends said in a GoFundMe post raising donations for medical expenses. Garbowski also suffered a broken shoulder, clavicle, ribs and an arm and their pelvis was also broken in two places.
“Breakfast [Brent] has been a bright light in each of our lives, and is truly one of the most kind and caring people on this planet,” the GoFundMe post reads.”
Kevin Jeffries, 29, was also critically hurt.
“After a scary couple of days, Kevin has been conscious and responsive, although he has had an extremely limited ability to speak and move,” organizers of his GoFundMe wrote. “It has become clear that his recovery will involve extensive time.”