SAN ANTONIO – Candice Mossberg said she remembers her brother, Richard Belmonte, for his heart and humor.
“I need the world to know that my brother was not a statistic,” Mossberg said. “He mattered to me, to his mom, to his dad, to his wife, to kids and to that unborn baby.”
Belmonte was hit and killed in a wrong-way crash on Jan. 26. The driver that struck him also died. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him as Thomas Cuellar.
A San Antonio Police Department spokesperson said Cuellar was attempting to drive east in the westbound lanes of U.S. Highway 90 when he hit Belmonte head-on. An SAPD crash report stated Belmonte’s car caught on fire after the crash.
Belmonte and Cuellar were found dead at the scene, the report stated.
This week, SAPD confirmed the case is being investigated as intoxication manslaughter, but the department said its investigation remains active.
“We as a family had to literally use dental records to identify him,” Mossberg said.
Belmonte was a hazmat and fuel tank driver. Mossberg said her brother was returning home when he died only a couple of minutes away from his home.
“My brother really embodied the beauty of what a good person was,” Mossberg said. “My family needs help.”
Belmonte was married and the father of three kids with a fourth on the way. Mossberg said she’s fundraising to keep her brother’s family afloat.
“This hurts,” Mossberg said. “But there’s a family that has to go on.”
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