“All over again": Family mourns as Bartwo teen Zachariah Clabough dies in hit-and-run three years after father killed by drunk driver

The family of Bartow High School senior Zachariah Clabough is mourning his loss after he was killed in a hit-and-run crash on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. In a press release, The Florida Highway Patrol said Edgardo Joel Rosado Perez, 41, is accused of striking and killing 18-year-old Zachariah Clabough, who was walking to school.

The suspect struck the teen after fleeing the scene of another minor accident on Wednesday morning. Perez fled the scene of the second fatal crash before authorities tracked down his 2018 Hyundai sedan involved in the crash, to his home in South Lakeland but learned the suspect had left in a blue 2017 Ford Fiesta.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies found the Fiesta at Brandon Mall and found Perez inside the mall, where he was arrested and subsequently jailed in Hillsborough County.

In the wake of the incident, the teen’s older sister, Dakota Runyon, told WTSP their father, Bill Clabough, was killed by a drunk driver while standing outside a gas station three years ago.

"I can't believe that we're having to do it all over again. The man just got sentenced back in December for killing my dad. And now it's March and I lose my brother? It's just so hard,” she said.

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Zachariah Clabough GoFundMe raises over $15,000 to help pay for funeral expenses

A GoFundMe campaign organized by the victim’s sister, Dakota Runyon, to help pay for her brother’s funeral expenses, said on Wednesday morning Zachariah Clabough was walking to school on S Jackson Ave in Bartow. He was struck and killed by a driver who fled the scene of two hit-and-runs, including the one that killed the teen.

Florida Highway Patrol said the suspect driving a 2018 Hyundai sedan was involved in a minor accident involving a Chevy SUV after he dropped his 18-year-old daughter off at school shortly before 7 am.

The suspect then fled the scene of the first crash traveling on Jackson Street at a high speed and struck an 18-year-old student, Zachariah Clabough, who was walking to school. The suspect fled the scene again, leaving the teen to die on the street.

In an interview with WTSP teen’s sister, Dakota Runyon, she said:

"He didn't sit with my brother. He didn't call 911. He didn't even stop. He just kept going. As if nothing happened. He killed somebody. And he had his entire life ahead of him. He was just learning who he was, and what he liked, and who he wanted to be."

Runyon described her brother as a sweet kid beloved in the community. In the wake of the accident, community members rallied around the teen’s family, donating over $15,000 to the GoFundMe campaign. The fundraiser has surpassed the initial target of $10,000.