Mom mourns son killed in West Hartford hit-and-run that driver allegedly said was intentional

The family of a Plainville man killed by a hit-and-run driver in West Hartford is mourning the loss of the father of two.

John Marczak, 44, was killed in the early morning hours of June 7 when he was hit by a driver on South Main Street.

He spent days in the ICU at Hartford Hospital fighting for his life, but succumbed to his injuries last Tuesday.

“He took care of me. I took care of him. We were best friends,” Julia LaFlamme, Marczak’s mother, said. “Since my husband died four years ago, [we were] inseparable me and him. We had each other. So, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I just don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

LaFlamme said her son was out celebrating a friend’s birthday when he left to fetch an Uber.

He wanted to get home as the next morning he was set to visit with his daughters, aged 14 and 16, according to his mother.

“He was a very happy go lucky, give you the shirt off his back man. His children were his world. His whole world," LaFlamme said.

She said she had one last phone conversation in the hour before his death, after he accidentally dialed her.

“I said, ‘where are you?’ He said, ‘I’m on my way home.’ I said ‘OK I’ll see you at 10 in the morning,’ I said ‘OK.’ And that was about 1 o’clock in the morning,” she recalled. “I always say ‘goodnight, John, I love you more.’ And he says, ‘I love you too mom.’ That’s in every text, every night. So, we said that to each other, and I said, ‘be safe,’ and that was the last thing.”

West Hartford police were called to the area of 202 South Main St. around 2 a.m., where witnesses reported finding Marczak seriously injured in the road.

Investigators found debris at the scene including a driver’s side rear-view mirror from a Ford. They confirmed with a dealership that it belonged to a Ford Mustang GT.

Using surveillance video from a parking garage, police tied the driver, 22-year-old Juan Pablo Novoa, to the crime, and arrested him at his family’s home.

Novoa told police he was on his way home from celebrating a friend’s birthday when he noticed a pedestrian in the travel lane of South Main Street.

“Juan believes he was approximately 25 feet away from Mr. Marczak when he noticed him,” court documents say. “Instead of swerving out of the way, Juan continued south in the southbound lane towards Mr. Marcak. Juan stated, ‘I’m on the road, I’m a vehicle, I have the legal right to be on the road.’ Juan then saw Mr. Marczak’s ‘hand’ and stated, ‘what’s gonna happen is gonna happen. I am the one in the vehicle and he is the threat, so I just continued.’”

Court documents state that police also witnessed Marczak walking in the middle of South Main Street before being hit, through surveillance video from a nearby home.

Following the collision, Novoa told officers he went to his cousin’s home in Southington, and that’s where police found his Mustang with a missing driver’s side mirror and cracked headlight.

While LaFlamme said she’s in shock and devastated at the loss, she’s not feeling anger towards the driver, as her son wouldn’t have wanted that.

“I don’t know this kid. He may have his own troubles. I don’t have anger yet, maybe I will later. But right now … my son is dead. I don’t think he’d want me to be angry,” LaFlamme said.

“I don’t have one single picture where he’s not smiling, where he’s angry, where he’s not making jokes, where he’s not happy. He’s the best hearted person there was, and he’d give you the shirt off his back. So, I don’t think he’d want me to be mad," she continued.

Novoa is facing charges including evading responsibility with serious injuries and tampering with evidence.

He hasn’t yet been charged with Marczak’s death. He’s due in court on July 14.