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Father of woman killed last Thanksgiving dedicates Christmas tree on 1-year anniversary


Danny Ferguson, father of Amanda Ferguson dedicates Christmas tree one year since she died in a pedestrian crash. Nov. 20, 2019. (Source: KFOX14/CBS4)
Danny Ferguson, father of Amanda Ferguson dedicates Christmas tree one year since she died in a pedestrian crash. Nov. 20, 2019. (Source: KFOX14/CBS4)
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A man charged with hitting and killing an El Paso school teacher will have a plea hearing on Thursday, almost one year later.

Amanda Ferguson died last Thanksgiving morning after she was struck by a vehicle near the Cincinnati Entertainment District.

The Ferguson family said they are emotional ahead of the plea hearing.

“She was like a sunflower. They have a short life and they’re very bright,” said Danny Ferguson, father of Amanda Ferguson. “This is my Mandy tree, and my wife got this idea.”

“Holidays just aren’t the same. They never will be the same,” said Danny Ferguson. “There’s a saying that with time, eases pain—that’s a lie.”

“It’ll be a year to the day tomorrow that I last saw my daughter alive. He left my daughter’s body broken on Mesa Street. He fled the scene, he tried to tamper with the evidence. He didn’t try to stop to render help,” he said.

Joel Velasquez was indicted for manslaughter accident, involving death and tampering with evidence.

“I know that God tells us to forgive but hopefully God can forgive him. But I know that I’ll never forgive him.” Danny Ferguson said.

Ferguson was a teacher at East Heights Elementary.

“There’s going to be a lot of people who love my daughter in that courtroom,” he said.

Danny Ferguson said he will tell Velasquez how he feels if he doesn’t accept a plea.

Danny Ferguson said he doesn’t know if he’ll ever take down the Christmas tree dedicated to Amanda.

“Nothing that happens to this guy will bring my daughter back. She’s gone forever,” he said.

KFOX14 reached out to the District Attorney’s Office to get more information about Velasquez plea deal and we never heard back.

Since Velasquez at the time if the incident was in the country illegally KFOX14 reached out to Immigration and Customs and Enforcement and were told it does seek to remove anyone that’s in the country illegally and criminally convicted then sentenced to save taxpayer money.

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