Victim dies from injuries nearly nine months after Kansas City hit-and-run

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For nearly nine months, John Florez has gone almost every day to see his friend in the hospital. She was involved in a hit-and-run and he says police haven’t found the person responsible.

On December 27, 2023, Kansas City police reported a hit and run at E. 27th Street and Wabash Avenue.

John Florez says that the person hit is his friend, Eslean Langford.

“It hurts me to see her this way because she’s a very good person,” Florez said. “She had got her femur broke, her pelvis is broke, she had two blood bleeds and she just ain’t ever recovered from it.”

The report from KCPD says that a black sedan was involved in the hit-and-run and was last seen going west on 27th Street.

Since then, Florez says they have not had many more answers.

“It just hurts that I’m trying to find out what happened to get her some help, cause she ain’t got nothing,” Florez said. “They sent paperwork out to all her family members that she’s supposed to know, none of them answered.”

Since December, Florez says he’s been to the hospital to see Langford every day, only missing four days due to illness. He told FOX4 that Langford’s family has not been very involved in her recovery.

“I’m not going to leave her side no matter what,” Florez said. “She needs somebody and I’m here for her. Just how I would want someone to do for me.”

On Thursday, Florez told FOX4 that she had been taken off life supporting measures.

“She’s in there hanging on, just barely, but she’s hanging on,” he said.

It was not 20 minutes after interviewing with FOX4 that Florez said Langford had passed away.

“Someone’s going to get away with murder because it’s not just a hit-and-run no more, to me, this is a murder,” he said.

Florez is now asking for anyone who knows anything about the crash to come forward.

“Someone has to know who has that car, who hit her. Someone has to know,” he said. “And that’s why I’m so hurt that whoever hit her ain’t turned themselves in or whoever seen it could say something.”

FOX4 reached out to the Kansas City Police Department for an update in this case. They said they would check, but have not received an update yet.

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