WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — West Palm Beach police made a passionate plea on Wednesday, urging the driver who hit and killed a pregnant woman and left her 3-year-old daughter fighting for her life to come forward.
Investigators have identified a person of interest in the case as Priscila Nicolas Antonio, 39.
According to police, Nicolas Antonio is the registered owner of the vehicle involved in Tuesday's crash and may have been the driver.
"I am at a loss for words. This is one of those cases that's kind of hit me a little bit," said Daniel Dillard, the lead traffic homicide investigator in the case. "These children did not deserve this."
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Police said a Honda Odyssey, driven by a Hispanic woman, backed over Catarina Reymundo Marcos, 34, and her toddler, Jessica Guzman, 3, around 3 p.m. Tuesday in the 3800 block of Pinewood Avenue.
The driver then sped away recklessly to get away from the scene, according to police.
"At this time, we do not have sufficient evidence to suggest it was intentional, but it is not an angle that we're going to disregard at this moment," Dillard said.
Police said the driver was either picking up or dropping off Marcos, and investigators believe the driver and Marcos knew each other.
Both victims were taken to St. Mary's Medical Center, where Marcos was pronounced dead.
Guzman is in critical condition with a traumatic brain injury, and Marcos' fetus survived following an emergency Caesarean section, but is also in critical condition.
Police said Marcos also had a 7-year-old daughter.
"At this time, they both are in life-threatening condition," Dillard said.
The vehicle was located about three hours later in the 3300 block of Pinewood Avenue, but as of Wednesday, the driver is still on the run.
"Please come forward. Give us your side of the story," Dillard said. "So we can bring the little of justice that we can to these children."
Dillard said the license plate on the vehicle had been removed, but a search of the vehicle identification number identified the registered owner of the car as Nicolas Antonio. Records show she was never issued a driver's license.
"At this time, we are searching for that registered owner because we'd like to talk to that person in regards to how their vehicle was involved in this incident," Dillard said.
Dillard, who has a 7-year-old daughter, said this case in particular has hit him very hard.
"She was already sleeping when I got home. But I sat there for quite some time watching her sleep, just picturing, you know, what if I was in this situation, and how I don't want to lose my daughter," Dillard said. "It just motivates me now to really go 150% into this to find the person responsible for this."
If you have any information that can help investigators, call the West Palm Beach Police Department at 561-822-1900.
