The hit-and-run driver wanted in connection with a horrific Williamsburg crash that killed a young married couple and their unborn son finally turned himself over to authorities yesterday. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told reporters that Julio Acevedo's demeanor "was calm. He knew this moment was coming because we arranged it in advance." Acevedo's former prison buddy, Derrick Hamilton, arranged the surrender and traveled with detectives to the convenience store parking lot in Bethlehem where Acevedo turned himself in.
Acevedo is being held without bail and is expected to waive extradition today, meaning the NYPD will immediately bring him back to NYC. Prosecutors are expected to charge Acevedo with a felony count of fleeing the scene of an accident that resulted in death, but community members hope he'll also face murder charges. “He was a coward,” community leader Isaac Abraham told reporters last night. “We in the community hope that today is Acevedo's last day that he sees daylight for the rest of his life."
An apologetic Acevedo has told reporters that before the crash he was panicked because he'd just been shot at by gunmen seeking revenge for his murder of the original 50 Cent, Kelvin Martin. (NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told the Times, "There were no reports of gun shots in the area at that time.") "I was scared," Acevedo said in phone interviews before his surrender. He also claims the victims' cab driver "came out of nowhere" and insists he did not realize that he had killed anyone when he fled the scene on foot.
Acevedo's wife Dorothy Acevedo is also sorry, and told ABC 7 her husband is "not a monster. Me and my family and friends would like to bring flowers to the site, to offer my condolences to the Glauber family. I'm afraid, afraid for my safety and my family's safety."
Meanwhile, the Glauber family has shared a heartbreaking letter that Nathan Glauber wrote to his parents on his wedding day. His handwritten thank-you note reads, in part, "You did not save time, energy and money, whether it was when I needed a private tutor to learn or an eye doctor or general encouragement... I want to tell you that all the education and values you taught me I’ll — with God’s help — take along with me in my new home, and continue to plant the same education in my home and kids that God will grant me."
