When the car struck his body, Segunda Zamora had crossed three of the four lanes that make up Route 5 in Colonie.
But at around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 7, Zamora did not make it through the fourth lane and he did not survive the injuries he suffered after being hit by a car police said was going no more than 40 miles per hour. Zamora died the following day at Albany Medical Center.
The days since his death have brought answers to police and even promise of closure for his family who will now be able to bring his body back to Ecuador for a proper burial. But the process was met with some obstacles caused mainly by his illegal residency in the United States.
According to Sgt. Robert Donnelly of the Colonie Police Department, police suspect the 32-year-old Zamora was headed to Ontario Street in Albany when he left his apartment at 1119 Central Ave. Police also suspect Zamora was possibly planning to take the bus to Ontario Street, as the bus station was located across the street and when Zamora was struck, he had a single dollar in his hand.
He also had a cell phone in his hand, said Donnelly. `We don’t know if he was on it, because it was broken at the crash.`
Through speaking with Zamora’s roommates, who Donnelly said are also suspected to be illegal immigrants, police were able to theorize that Zamora was headed to Ontario Street to visit a shop that sells phone cards, so that Zamora could call his family in Ecuador.
He had exited the house alone, and was alone when he was hit by the car.
As for the driver, Donnelly said police are not releasing his name as he is not being charged at this time. Donnelly also said alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the accident.
`It’s something that didn’t have to happen,` said Donnelly. `Here’s a gentleman dressed in darker clothes At least if he was in the cross walk, this wouldn’t have had to happen. He just didn’t see him.`
When police responded, Donnelly said, Zamora was still breathing. In his pocket, police found several pieces of identification, though the last name on one of the credit cards found was not the same as Zamora’s.
`I’m told, culturally, that could have been his mother’s name,` said Donnelly.
Donnelly questioned the roommates about Zamora’s real name, and he said the roommates were `sketchy about his name.`
When Donnelly could not get answers from Zamora’s roommates, he contacted the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement services to try to confirm his identity.
`I contacted ICE immigration services, and they had no record of him,` Donnelly said. `I spent quite a bit of time trying to track down the family.`
What Donnelly did find out was that Zamora has been in the country since at least 2006, when he was arrested in Rockland County for what appears to be a domestic assault incident, for which he was convicted of criminal contempt in the second degree.
`Before that, we really don’t know when he came to the country,` Donnelly said.
Next, Donnelly contacted the U.S. National Secretary for Migration, also known as Casa Del Ecuadoriana, a federal organization that helps immigrants reconnect with the families they left behind, as well as many other services.
According to Pablo Calle, a representative from the U.S. NSM, the agency is run in collaboration with the government in Ecuador, and mostly helps those who cannot afford the services the agency provides on their own.
`The support that we provide these kind of victims, we help them basically ship the body to Ecuador,` Calle said.
Once police contacted the agency, the agency began the process of contacting Zamora’s family to arrange to have his body sent to them in Ecuador.
But Calle said it was shortly into the process of connecting with Zamora’s family that the agency learned two things: Zamora’s wife had already traveled to the United States after hearing of her husband’s death and Zamora had an account with Banco Del Eustro, an Ecuadorian bank with branches throughout the U.S., in which he had coverage to send his body back to Ecuador in the event that he died. In order to activate that coverage, Calle said, Zamora needed only to maintain a $10 minimum in the account.
`We keep in touch with the bank, so we called them and figured out that he had an account with them. And the family has been basically been dealing with them since,` said Calle.
While Calle said he is pleased the agency was able to connect Zamora’s family with his remains, he said the services the agency provides could be helpful to all Ecuadorians living throughout the United States who could one day be faced with a similar situation.
To contact Casa Del Ecuadoriana, call 718-803-3086 or send mail to 10209 Northern Blvd., Corona 11368.
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