Colorado family missing loved one killed in road rage incident, urges calm behind the wheel

One Colorado family is mourning a young man killed in a road rage incident that injured six other people, and hoping his story will encourage other drivers to remain calm.

It is the kind of bond that extends beyond family. "You can't have a kid like that in your life and not get emotionally involved with them, because he was so full of life," said Wismar Gonzalez of Northglenn.

That's how Gonzalez describes the kind of love he and his family felt for 21-year-old Salvador Diaz, otherwise known as Chava by those closest to him.

"He looked like he had fleas. He wouldn't stop moving, and he was always smiling all over the place, always laughing and playing with the other kids," said Gonzalez. "Very warm kid."

Diaz was four years old when Gonzalez's family took them in, letting him and his mother live inside Gonzalez's Northglenn home while they got back on their feet. However, he never realized the lasting bond this would create.

"Him and his mom were with us for approximately nine years," said Gonzalez. "From then on, [they were] family. We were treated like family by them, too. In fact, he asked me if he could call me daddy, and I said, 'Who am I to tell you no?' He was just four years old, and from then on, I was his daddy."

This father figure is now gutted after learning Diaz was struck and killed on April 11th while riding in a car back to Denver on I-25 after working a roofing job in Colorado Springs. 

"At first, I was hoping that it was a prank. It was a bad joke, and I was waiting for the second call saying it was a joke," said Gonzalez. "Other calls started coming in, and I realized it was real."

Colorado Springs Police told CBS Colorado two cars were reportedly driving erratically with behavior consistent with road rage the night of April 11th. Along the interstate, one of those cars eventually hit a third car, which was the one Diaz was riding in. Six people in the car with Diaz were transported to the hospital for their injuries, while Diaz died at the scene.

Police have since arrested one of the drivers of the cars involved in the road rage, 44-year-old Durriel Humphrey, and charged him with vehicular homicide.

"It could've been anybody," said Gonzalez. 

Now, this family is facing a new and gut-wrenching reality while working hard to crowdfund and support Diaz's mother in his absence.

"I wish we could have him back," said Diaz, "And I know we can't."

However, Gonzalez says they can use their pain to encourage others on the road to exercise patience and prevent road rage incidents that could cost other people's lives.

"Get off the road, calm down and don't touch a wheel until you're okay. It's okay to get upset. It's okay to lose it every now and then. We're humans, we do that all the time. Other people don't have to pay for our problems or lack of knowing how to handle our problems," said Gonzalez. "It could save lives. It could save one of their own family members' lives."

CSPD is still looking for the other vehicle involved, but they say they are at a point in the investigation where "we don't want to release any other information regarding that vehicle to allow our detectives time to exhaust all investigative leads."