‘We are looking for justice.’ Family grieves for 2-year-old killed in hit-and-run crash
Maritza Cherident loved to laugh, play and walk through the aisles of the church, visiting with congregants.
“Everyone loved her so much,” Jackson Janvier, pastor of The Clinic of Restoration Church of God in Northwest Miami-Dade, said of the 2-year-old. “She was very friendly with everyone.”
Maritza, who had a “beautiful smile,” lost her life in a hit-and-run accident last week that also left her parents injured. Now her grieving parents — who are Haitian and who came to Miami from Chile in September — and her church family are planning a funeral for the toddler.
“They are not doing well,” Janvier said of Maritza’s parents, Mikenson Cherident and Mirtha Bazile. “She was her dad’s only child. He doesn’t know what to do without her.”
And adding to their pain: No one has been charged in the April 27 crash in the area of Northwest 10th Avenue and 116th Terrace.
“We are looking for justice,” Janvier said.
Police have not released a description of the vehicle and are asking for the community’s help in finding the car and driver involved.
“Leaving the scene of an accident is a criminal offense,” said Chris Thomas, a Miami-Dade police spokesman. “We want to appeal to that person to come forward and give their side of the story.”
The accident
The family was walking to a nearby grocery story at about 9:30 p.m. when they were hit. Police say they were walking across Northwest 12th Avenue west on 116th Street when a car heading north hit them.
All three of them were knocked to the ground, Janvier said.
“When the car hit me, me and my wife were on the ground,” Cherident told Miami Herald news partner CBS4 through a translator. “I cannot remember anything. I thank God I have a pastor to help us. We will never forget my daughter.”
After the accident, all three family members were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where the toddler died.
Cherident and Bazile have since been released, but both are still in a lot of physical and emotional pain, Janvier said.
“We miss her very much,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).
Miami Herald staff writer Devoun Cetoute contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
