Pennsylvania musician’s family prays illegal immigrant suspect in hit-and-run death will feel its pain
The family of a young musician who died after being struck on his motorcycle by an alleged illegal immigrant reflects on his life and how it will continue to honor his memory.
The family of a Pennsylvania musician killed when he was allegedly struck on his motorcycle by an illegal immigrant who fled is reflecting on the life of the 23-year-old victim.
"There was nobody like him. I don't know what I'm going to do because, as an adult, I had to go to him for solace on many things when I struggled. And I don't know how we go on without that," Marcia Goisse, Christian Sluka's aunt, told Fox News Digital in an emotional interview.
Sluka was riding home on his motorcycle after watching his cousin perform at a local bar when he was struck and killed Saturday evening in Dormont, Pennsylvania.
"I mean it's odd. It's pretty crazy we were there that night. I was in his band with him. I am a performer, but I had just had an acoustic set that I was playing at a local bar, which was right up the street from his house and in the community that we're always in," Noah Goisse, Sluka's cousin, recalled about that night. "He came, and he was like, 'I had such a tough week at work. I can't wait to be there and just unwind and enjoy myself.'"
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Noah said Sluka was with him and their friends from 8-10 that evening. He said Sluka even helped him carry all his equipment back to his car like he always did.
"We're in the bar, and we're getting ready to leave. And he says to me, 'It's such a nice night out. I think I'm going to go take my bike on a joyride.' And so he did. He put his helmet on. He put his gloves on. He's walking around the bar. He's like pretty much showing off how safe he was being. And then me and a couple of friends were walking down the street, and he comes zooming by on his bike, and he honks and he waves. And down the street he went. And once he got down there, he made a left turn, and that's when it happened," Noah said.
Noah added that it did give him some solace to know that Sluka was with people he cared about and people who cared about him that night and that Sluka got to go out while riding his bike because he loved it so much.
Marcia, Noah's mother, is hoping Sluka's death wasn't in vain and that justice will be served.
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"We're trying to be hopeful and have faith in the justice system that the person that did this gets what they deserve and gets it to the fullest extent of the law. It's very difficult as a family to wrap your head around it because we're just looking at it right now from a human point of view, just the type of person that Christian was," Marcia explained while choking back tears.
"It's just hard to think that someone could treat him … when he was so good to everyone. He was so good. It's just hard to think that someone could do that to him and just leave him there.
"To think that these kids were right around the corner, they could have been there with them. It's just so hard. I just keep thinking, you know, if one thing was different. One minute. One second. I mean, if he did anything different, he would still be here.
"If he went home instead of left. It's always too hard to even imagine. And you want to blame somebody, but I don't know that there's any at this point. It's very hard to sit here and point fingers. And, I mean, we know who did it. We know what they did. I know there's no excuse for it, but it is hard. I'm not going to lie."
Police identified the driver of the car as 25-year-old Saul Rivera-Ramirez.
Officials said Rivera-Ramirez was driving a red Ford Taurus and took off on foot with a female and a small child after the crash.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to Fox News Digital that Rivera-Ramirez is an illegal immigrant who was previously deported.
"ERO Philadelphia can confirm that Saul Ramirez-Rivera is a noncitizen who is in the United States unlawfully. Ramirez-Rivera was previously removed from the United States and unlawfully reentered, without admission or parole by an immigration official," a spokesperson for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations said in a statement.
"Following his arrest, ERO Philadelphia lodged an immigration detainer with the Allegheny County Jail. ERO Philadelphia anticipates ACJ will not honor the immigration detainer given its current policies."
Sluka's cousin is still struggling to understand how the driver allegedly fled without even trying to save Sluka.
"It makes us physically sick to our stomach to think that somebody was so inconsiderate and so selfish that they could just cause such a tragedy and walk off as if nothing even happened and not even take the time to even just check on him or admit some sort of fault in the matter and at least do what's right to turn that around and just to give him any help," Noah Goisse said. "Even just to hold his hand in those final moments or something, just to be there with him. It absolutely sickens us."
"You took away the heart and soul of our family," Marcia Goisse said. "And I just want him to know the driver, the person that did this. I just pray to God he feels something. I want him to feel the same pain that we feel right now. Not in a physical way. I just want him to realize how much he's hurt our family."
Ramirez-Rivera is facing several charges, including homicide by vehicle and driving without a license.
He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail pending a preliminary arraignment.
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Noah hopes that, beyond the tragedy, people will remember his cousin and the impact he had in his short life.
"I hope people do remember him. I mean, there's so many things to remember him as. He was an animal lover. He was a lover of the outdoors. He loved his bike. I knew him best as not only my cousin, but a musician," he said.
"I've played music with him for so long and just his level of creativity and his understanding of art, it was remarkable. It was something I have still never, ever seen in a person. And that element that he brought to the world is completely irreplaceable because art is something that I think comes directly from the soul."
