SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A newly married local man is grieving the death of his wife, who was struck by a van near Ensenada as they were on a video chat.
After dating for nearly three years, Jeremiah Martinez married the love of his life, Yadira, 43, in May near her home just south of Ensenada.
“It was amazing. It was wonderful. I was happy,” said Martinez, 43.
Last Wednesday, he was visiting her again, ahead of her plans to move to San Diego in September.
A recording shows a video chat between the two that evening, as Yadira went on a mile-long walk along a two-lane road to catch a taxi to go to work at a T-shirt factory.
About 30 seconds into the call, something odd happened.
"She had disappeared from the screen. That's when the van hit her,” said Martinez.
Surveillance video shows Yadira walking on the side of the road. Moments later, a van strikes her.
Martinez, confused by the interrupted call, had gone looking for Yadira, and found her on the side of the road. She was barely moving and breathing. He says a police officer refused to let him get too close.
“I asked her, ’Is an ambulance coming? Is an ambulance coming? I think she said, ‘Yeah, yeah,” said Martinez.
Martinez says for the officer and a man in an EMT-type uniform barely checked on her, while Martinez tried to comfort her.
“I kept telling her that I loved her and I was there,” said Martinez.
He says an hour and a half later, an ambulance arrived, but inexplicably, with Yadira still moving occasionally, the paramedics did little to help. At one point, Martinez begged one of them in Spanish.
“Can you help her please? And the guy on the phone says, ‘I don't speak English. Sorry,’” said Martinez. “They were texting and talking to each other. I felt so helpless and desperate."
Martinez says at no point did anybody perform CPR.
Three hours after the accident, he was informed by a police officer that his wife had passed.
“I'm heartbroken. My world's destroyed,” said Martinez. “She was everything to me. She was sweet and kind woman."
Martinez says the driver of the van was handcuffed, questioned and later released. It's unclear if he was arrested.
“I would like to see justice for her,” said Martinez. "They just left her, face down in the dirt."
He's hoping the driver will be held accountable, along with the first responders he believes didn't do enough to save Yadira’s life.
“This is supposed to be happiest time in our lives. It turned into a nightmare,” said Martinez.
Martinez says he also tried to make frantic 911 calls in his broken Spanish, but doesn't believe it led to any response.
He says he's been contacted by a human rights attorney in Mexico, and is contemplating legal action.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help with cremation and other expenses.
