A Perris family is dealing with holiday heartbreak after a 36-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run crash in front of the family home on Christmas Eve.
"We used to go around telling people we were twins because we were so close in age everybody assumed we were twins," the victim's sister Lisa Sambrano said.
Just like twins, Sambrano said she had a special bond with her brother Johnny.
"He was a great son, father, brother, and uncle. He didn't deserve this -- no one deserved it," Lisa said.
The loving father of two children who family members say could light up a room with his sense of humor went for a walk outside his parents' home on the morning of Christmas Eve at 6:30 a.m.
He was walking in the shoulder along Old Elsinore Road when he was suddenly hit by a dark-colored truck.
The deadly impact - and the driver taking off - were caught on the family's surveillance system.
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"By the time he was able to stop his truck he was right dead in front of him. So he had to back up to get around him," Johnny's father Al Gray said.
Gray heard the impact and ran out to help Johnny.
He just doesn't understand why the driver didn't stop and call 911.
"Maybe he was looking down on the floor or something - it's an accident, but you don't just drive away from something like that," Gray said.
Over the past few days the surveillance cameras have also captured video of a white car. Lisa says ever since the crash, the same car has come back twice to circle the area where Johnny was struck.
"Maybe their conscience was eating at them and they came back or had someone else come back to see if they noticed anything," Lisa said.
Whatever the reason, Lisa just wants justice for her brother and she's hoping someone will do the right thing.
"Imagine if it was someone you loved - how would you feel? You would want that person to be caught to," she said.
If you would like to donate to a GoFundMe account set up to help Johnny's family, you may do so here. Note that GoFundMe deducts 7.9 percent of all funds raised in the form of platform and payment processing charges.
