Matthew Sotos didn’t know then that he would be the recipient of his cousin Michael Chintakis’ last text.
“We basically just said ‘Happy New Year, I love you, health, wealth and love, and I’ll see you at the party,'” said Sotos.
Shortly after sending the text, Chintakis crossed the street and was struck and killed by a driver. The 31-year-old was on his way to a New Year’s Eve party when he was hit.
Sotos rushed to the scene when he heard what happened.
“Having to go and see the remains, and the body bag. It wasn’t easy to see that,” he said.
Augustin Wesley Katimba, 30, who was returning home from church was also killed.
Montreal police say 23-year-old, Antoine Dubuc was behind the wheel and driving at a high speed before fleeing the scene. He was later arrested and is facing six charges, including dangerous driving causing death, fleeing the scene of a deadly collision and impaired driving causing death.
“Yeah, (Michael was) a cousin, but he was like a brother,” said Natacha Papadakis tearfully. “He was like my protector, my safety blanket and he was going to be celebrating a 32nd birthday soon.”
Michael was an only child, he didn’t have any siblings, but he had a lot of cousins, who say they were more like brothers and sisters. They describe him as a kind soul and bright light, loved by so many.
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“If you needed help, he was there immediately, in a heartbeat,” said his cousin, Francis Di Ioia. “He’d say, ‘What do you need? I got you covered.’ And so everyone hearing that this happened to that kind of person, they’re saying, ‘No, this is tragic, it’s a waste, he didn’t deserve it.'”
His family says heart-warming messages and generous donations have been pouring in. A fundraiser for the family collected more than $20,000 In just 24 hours.
“It was a great gift from the heart from a lot of people and it’s going to go a long way towards giving Michael the proper respect and vigil that he deserves and to help with his family,” said Luciano Ciccone, a friend of Michael’s and one of the two people who created the fundraiser.
His family says anything over the $20,000 goal will be donated. They’d like to give a portion to the family of the other man who was struck and killed alongside him. They say that’s what Michael would have wanted.
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