33-year-old father killed in hit-and-run accident at South Gate

SOUTH GATE, Calif. (KABC) — A 33-year-old father was killed in a hit-and-run accident in South Gate and his long-term girlfriend couldn't talk him down because they weren't married.

Andres Camilo Rey Beltran was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver on September 18 and his family is now demanding answers.

“I need someone to help me find the perpetrator,” Yohana Gonzalez told Eyewitness News in Spanish.

Gonzalez, his 12-year-old girlfriend, didn't find out about the accident until the next day. She was sick and went looking for him.

“I asked a patrol officer what was going on. He asked about his birthday and went to check. With his help, we found out he was in the hospital,” she said.

When she finally saw him at the hospital, he had significant disfigurement and injuries to his body, she described to Eyewitness News.

Before the crash, Andres told Yohana that his phone battery was low as he was on his way to visit a friend. His phone was broken and he didn't come that night.

According to police, he was struck while walking across the street at the intersection of Long Beach and Firestone boulevards shortly after 10 p.m

“I went to the hospital with my sister and mentioned that it must be really serious because if he had had an accident he would have called me.”

The couple is originally from Colombia and since they are not legally married, he said it was almost impossible to not only get information about what happened that night, but also to retrieve his body from the hospital morgue.

“He was my partner, he was my life because we were always together,” Gonzalez said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help his family.