The 16-year-old Rocky Point High School student was riding his bicycle along the roadway shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday morning when he was struck by a minivan driven by an unlicensed driver, Suffolk police said. In the hours following the teenager's death, a makeshift memorial consisting of religious candles, blessed palm leaves fashioned into crosses, and rosary bead necklaces, began to grow at the utility pole closest to the spot where Daniel succumbed to his injuries. Above his photograph, an anonymous writer scribbled on a sheet of paper taped to the pole: "Que en paz descanse" -- Spanish for rest in peace.
"It's really unfair, what happened," said Elia Trejo as she knelt and placed a candle dedicated to Our Lady of Guadelupe under a wooden cross that was attached to the utility pole. Daniel had taken a summer job at the McDonald's in Wading River to help with the family's finances because his father, who is going blind, can no longer work. In his spare time, Daniel played soccer, a passion influenced by his Salvadoran heritage.
Daniel's family did not own a car, so he often made the roughly 4 1/2-mile trip from his parents' Prince Road home by bicycle. He was biking on the south side of Route 25A when he was struck by a minivan about 300 feet west of Amber Lane. The driver of the minivan, Karen Omara-Swett, 50, of Sea Cliff, had been traveling to the Schiff Scout Reservation on Wading River-Manor Road in Wading River, where she had been camping with her two sons, police said. Ms. Omara-Swett told detectives she believed she hit a deer at the time of impact, until she stopped her car on the shoulder and got out, according to Det. Lt. Gail Marrero, commanding officer of the Seventh Squad in Shirley. But then Ms. Omara-Swett spotted a patch of clothing on the sidewalk and realized she had hit a person, so she called police through their emergency hot line, Det. Lt. Marrero said.
Daniel was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician's assistant from the Suffolk medical examiner's office.
Ms. Omara-Swett was charged with third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, a misdemeanor, because her license was previously suspended, police said. However, she was released and is expected to be arraigned on the traffic summons in First District Court in Central Islip at a later date. If convicted of the charge, she can serve up to 30 days in the Suffolk County Correctional Facility and also pay a $500 fine.
In the meantime, Ms. Omara-Swett's minivan has been impounded by police for a safety check, a standard procedure following car crashes. The investigation is continuing, according to Det. Lt. Marrero. Investigators are asking anyone who may have information to contact them at the Seventh Squad at 631-852-8752.
Ms. Trejo, a Rocky Point resident who knew Daniel through her position as a nurse's aide at the high school, took issue with Ms. Omara-Swett's decision to drive without a license.
"[Ms. Omara-Swett] is going to pay a fine of $500 and that's it?" she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
Katie Hernandez, 18, also traveled to the roadside memorial to pay her respects. The last time Ms. Hernandez saw her friend was on Wednesday at the beach, she recalled.
"I will miss him," she said.
News of Daniel's death traveled quickly throughout the Rocky Point community. By Monday evening, donation cans were placed on the counters of convenience stores in the area by a good Samaritan seeking money to help aid the Carranza family with Daniel's funeral expenses.
With no formal plans in place for mourning, some gathered to grieve outside Daniel's home.
"What a shame," said Rocky Maio, a neighbor of the Carranzas'. "He used to play soccer out here. If the ball got away, he would run after it and make sure it didn't go on anyone's lawn."
Family friend Manuel Romero of Rocky Point said the family was waiting for word from authorities. Mr. Romero recalled the teenager as a "nice kid" who read the Bible just prior to embarking on his journey to work the morning he was killed.
"He was 16 years old, he had a long time [in front of him]," Mr. Romero said, his voice shaking. "He didn't deserve that ... God be with him now."
peggy@northshoresun.com