Leonardo Gil Fraga hospital TikTok star killed in hit and run after leaving work on his motorcycle. Involved driver has yet to be located as family demand justice.
A Florida hospital worker with more than 100,000 followers on TikTok has died after a hit-and-run car accident while leaving his shift at Hialeah Hospital on Tuesday. The driver of the involved vehicle fled the scene and has yet to be located.
Leonardo Gil Fraga, 34, was riding home on his motorcycle around 9:30 p.m. when he was struck by an SUV turning left at the intersection of East 8th Avenue and 21st Street in Hialeah, according to a GoFundMe set up to help cover funeral and memorial costs.
Katiuska Fernandez, Gil’s aunt, told 7News Miami that her nephew was left lying on the side of the road until a passerby found him and called for help.
Gil was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he eventually succumbed to his injuries.
‘The family was not prepared for the loss of this loving, kind, selfless young man,’ the fundraiser says. ‘He leaves behind a big, loving, united family including his young son.’
Only purchased motorbike 3 months ago
Hialeah Police Lt. Eduardo Rodriguez confirmed that Gil was traveling southbound on the roadway when the offending vehicle turned in front of the victim, noting that the driver did not give Gil ‘an opportunity to even attempt to stop,’ NBC Miami reports.
Surveillance footage of the accident shows the offending vehicle turned just three seconds before the motorcyclist entered the intersection. Rodriguez said Gil had the right of way when the accident occurred.
Gil’s niece, Delia Acosta said her uncle had only had the motorcycle involved in Tuesday’s crash for around three months, according to NBC Miami.
‘Our family right now is just devastated,’ she said, noting that Gil had ‘never had a motorcycle before.’ Adding, ‘We are just devastated because you never expect something like this to happen.’
Acosta said Gil ‘was much more than an uncle’ to her and would take her to school when they previously lived in Cuba, per 7News Miami. ‘We’re just very close family,’ she added. ‘It’s not like just relative that you don’t even see. He is my everything, my family’s everything.’
Gil first began working at Hialeah Hospital as a janitor after immigrating from Cuba over 10 years ago before working his way up to patient transporter and, ultimately, an endoscopy technician, according to the GoFundMe page.
Additionally, Gil was popular on TikTok, amassing over 100,000 followers and 1.8 million likes on the social media platform. His most recent video (see below) was posted the day he died.
@leonardogil01 Reply to @kimgonzales2015 😂😂 #saludos #parati #foryou #leche #foryoupage #viral #tiktok ♬ original sound – Leonardo Gil
In search of justice
Police are still looking for the driver that took off from the scene of the crime. Lieutenant Rodriguez is asking the community for help.
‘We need to ask people to look at their neighbors, look at their coworkers, if they have seen a similar vehicle and if they notice that the vehicle hasn’t been around in a couple of days to please give us a call,’ the lieutenant said, per 7News Miami.
‘We’re going to keep looking for more video,’ he continued. ‘We’re going to be going up and down every block, and we’re not going to stop till we can find another home, or location, a gasoline station, till we find something that captures the vehicle fleeing and provide us with more information that can help us get to the bottom of this.’
Gil’s niece Acosta also hopes to find the culprit. ‘We hope that they can find him or her or that this person turns themselves in because it really is an injustice,’ she said.
