RICHMOND, Va. -- Police have identified a man who was killed after being hit by a car at the intersection of Cumberland Street and Belvidere Street, two blocks from Monroe Park in Richmond, early Saturday morning.
Officials said 19-year-old Wilson I. Herrarte-Barahona was attempting to cross the South Belvidere Street crosswalk just after 1 a.m. when he was struck by a Volkswagen Jetta traveling southbound in the center lane. He died at the scene.
The driver of the Jetta struck Herrarte-Barahona while trying to go around a vehicle that had stopped to avoid hitting him and his friends.
Sources said the Radford University student was visiting friends at VCU.
Witnesses said Herrarte-Barahona was in a group of people walking a few steps behind when he was struck in the pedestrian crosswalk by a pizza delivery driver.
However, police said the "do not walk" hand was illuminated.
The driver remained on scene for questioning as the police crash reconstruction team worked through the night taking measurements and interviewing witnesses.
The incident remains under investigation.
The intersection
Neighbor: 'There is a lot of traffic here'
"I can see it happening,” said Raven Smith, who lives in student housing across Belvidere. “I mean there is a lot of traffic here."
Smith said she uses the same route to Cumberland Street almost daily. In fact, she said she sometimes does not know how she makes it to the other side
“Even when there's no traffic going straight, there's traffic turning,” she explained. “You have to walk at a decent speed to beat it and even then there's just sometimes where you have to go for it."
People that walk in the area said they knew it was only a matter of time before someone would be hit.
Herrarte-Barahona, a Papa John’s employee in Fairfax, was loved and respected by many.
His manager, Art Keefer, said when the teen was on break from college, he was always willing to pick up an extra shift. He said Herrarte-Barahona was an employee that could instantly lift your spirits if you were having a bad day.
Wilson Herrarte-Barahona
