Last night, Damian Gomez’s loved ones remembered him and called for justice, with support from dozens of bike riders and safe streets advocates

Read our previous article about the Damian Gomez case and Monday’s tribute ride here.

Last night, a large crowd of people, including the family and friends of fallen delivery cyclist Damian Gomez, 18, plus dozens of bike riders and traffic safety advocates, gathered to honor him at the West Lawn crash site on the Southwest Side. They also demanded that the hit-and-run motorist who killed him be brought to justice.

According to police, on Sunday, April 5, around 1:20 a.m., the speeding male driver of a red 2015 Ford Explorer ran a red at 63rd Street and Kedzie Avenue, fatally striking Gomez. The motorist also critically injured his passenger, a 22-year-old woman, and injured another driver, a 60-year-old woman. The SUV driver fled the scene on foot and has not been apprehended.

At Wednesday’s rally, Gomez’s mother Claudia Torres called her son a “joyful, sweet and loving young man,” Block Club Chicago reported. “I want the person who hurt him to be held accountable for what he did.”About 25 people bicycled to the vigil, including riders from the groups Gage Park Cyclists, Chicago Taildraggers Bicycle Club, Little Village Cyclists, Chicago Cyclists, Chicago Critical Mass, and CyclingxSolidarity, as well as a crew from the Working Bikes nonprofit shop, and staff from the Southwest Collective community organization. Many of them have attended the weekly rallies in support of the Archer traffic safety project in nearby Brighton Park each Monday.

Wednesday’s memorial and rally for justice “was a powerful statement,” Southwest Collective Transit Advocacy Steward Dixon Galvez-Searle told Streetsblog via email. “Seeing the huge crowd at 63rd and Kedzie last night tells me that Damian Gomez was loved by his family, his friends, and his community – and that he will be missed terribly.”

“It was powerful to hear so many people chanting ‘Justice for Damian’ and ‘Long live Damian,'” Galvez-Searle added. “I’m hopeful that anybody who has information about the driver who killed this young man will come forward, so the family can have some measure of closure.”

“‘Justice for Damian’ also means doing whatever we can to make our streets safer for young people, cyclists, and pedestrians,” Galvez-Searle concluded Southwest Siders deserve safe streets, period.”

Alfredo Valladares Jr., a Gage Park Cyclists member who co-organizes the pro-Archer project events, echoed Galvez-Searle’s sentiments in a statement to Streetsblog. “The ride was solemn,” Valladares said. “At 63rd we met with Claudia Torres,the victim’s mother, to let her know we are with her in this difficult time and to offer our group to be at her disposal for anything she might need. From 63rd and Kedzie we walked to the police station on 63rd and St. Louis Avenue [a block east] to demand swift action from the Chicago Police Department in finding and charging the individual responsible for Damian’s death.”

People with information about information about the Damian Gomez case are encouraged to call the Chicago Police Department’s non-emergency number 312-746-6000. You can make an anonymous tip by texting “CPDTIP” to 738477 or submit info online at CPDTIP.com.

A GoFundMe page launched by Gomez’s aunt Daisy Torres to cover funeral expenses and support Gomez’s family has raised more than $22,000.

Read the Block Club Chicago article here.

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