The father of a Virginia man struck and killed by a car in Philadelphia in October says his mission to get justice for his son has been agonizing.
"I have to walk around my house; sometimes I see my wife just weeping,” Frank Corona said.
Jason Corona, 24, of Spotsylvania County was at a bar with his sister and other family celebrating a cousin's return from military deployment in October. A man inside the bar made unwanted advances toward his sister and he intervened, Philadelphia police said.
While he and his family waited for an Uber home outside, the man continued his unwanted advances until he jumped in an SUV and started to leave, police said.
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Their father, a homicide detective for 15 years, used illustrations shown in court to demonstrate how the driver turned around and hit his son with the SUV.
“He steered his vehicle towards my child, and he ran him over,” Corona said. “He dragged him. He did not stop. He murdered him."
Police said the man drove away as Jason Corona was dying in the bar’s parking lot.
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"My wife was not very far from where this occurred, and when my daughter called her, she came, she came, and she held my son's head together," Frank Corona said.
Philadelphia police arrested and charged 22-year-old Frederick Falcon with nine charges, including third-degree murder. But in February, a judge dropped eight of the nine charges, including the murder charge. The defense argued Jason Corona stepped into the traffic lane and Falcon couldn't avoid hitting him.
“Everything caught on video with eyewitness testimony – to be dismissed at the preliminary hearing that is, it’s mind-blowing," Frank Corona said.
The Philadelphia district attorney has refiled the charges.
Falcon is free on bond while the Corona family is held captive by overwhelming grief.
“We haven't even moved anything in his room," Frank Corona said.
He said he goes into the room every day to talk to his son.
"I tell him about my day. I tell him I'm gonna fight; I'm gonna fight for you,” he said. “And I also tell him that he didn't die in vain and that something positive is gonna come out of this."
The Philadelphia district attorney said Falcon has a hearing on the refiled charges, including the murder charge, scheduled for June 22.
Falcon's attorney declined to comment.
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