Family gets closure after hit-and-run arrest

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A Kissimmee family is relieved after the Florida Highway Patrol made an arrest, two years after the husband and father of six was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
 
"I needed closure, we just wanted justice for him," says Adelaida Narvaez.  "We've all been going through so much."  

Narvaez will never forget heading home from work and seeing her husband, Benjamin Haymans, lying on the highway, after being hit by a car that took off, according to troopers. It happened a week before Christmas, in 2015.

"I was with this man for 26 years. We married, we had a big family, a lot of grandchildren and it wasn't fair the way he was hit and run and left in the street."

Troopers arrested 21-year-old Calvin Tatum for failing to remain on scene. They say his wife also faces charges after reporting the vehicle stolen after the crash.

"It's the memory we've had seeing the way he was hurt and left to die in the street. He didn't deserve it."

Benjamin's daughter, Amanda Hayams, says it's difficult living without him, especially during Christmas.

"I thought it wasn't gonna happen for how long it was taking and how desperate my mom was to find out."

They consider this an incredible gift.

"Two years after, it was overwhelming to find out. It was like a big weight got off my back."

Benjamin was the father of six children and six grandchildren.  He never got to meet Amanda's 3-month-old baby Amina, but Amanda believes her little angel is here for a reason.

'He sent her for me, so I wouldn't be lonely."

Adelaida admits, life isn't the same, without her husband.

"Every time he would drop me off work he'd tell me he loved me. I miss that."

Troopers say they waited for DNA evidence to come in before making an arrest.  Investigators say Tatum was driving on a suspended license. Had he stayed on scene, they say he wouldn't have faced serious charges, because the victim was not in a crosswalk at the time of the crash.