Fil-Am hit by drunk driver in New Jersey dies, is laid to rest

WESTFIELD, New Jersey - A Filipino-American who died 2 days after a drunk driver hit his car was laid to rest in New Jersey on Monday.

Michael Sot, 20, was making sure his friends got home safe only to be hit head on by a drunk driver last Dec. 2.

The driver, 22-year-old David Lamar, crossed over the double center line and crashed into Sot’s car. The accident also injured 7 others.

Lamar survived and was charged with vehicular homicide, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

"I want the other guy to know how he affected everyone and I want him to know how good of a kid he took out in the world. I have other fraternity brothers still in the hospital right now, unconscious, and I want him to see that too," said Sot’s best friend, Giancarlo Santo.

For many of Sot’s friends, he was not only a former star football player and an outstanding student, he was someone who put others first.

"He might be gone now, but like now, pieces of him live in every one of us and I think we just need to do our best job to carry out what things Mike would have done to people if he was here, because it’s the only way he could live on now,” Santo said. 

More than $73,000 dollars has been raised at this time through a GoFundMe page to help the Sot family and other victims of the car crash.

Another GoFundMe page called TCNJ Car Accident Recovery Fund has raised more than $120,000. The money raised will be given to each family affected by the crash.

Read more on Balitang America:

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Fil-Am college student dies of injuries from car accident

A Filipino-American college student died from his injuries two days after a car driven by an impaired driver crashed into their vehicle.

What started out to be a fun Sunday night out for 20-year-old Filipino-American Michael Sot and his friends turned tragic. 

Sot, a sophomore math major at the College of New Jersey, was the designated driver that night.

The impaired driver, 22-year-old David Lamar, crossed into the oncoming lane and struck Sot’s vehicle. 

Lamar was charged with vehicular homicide, as well as seven counts of second-degree assault by auto in connection with the 2 a.m. crash near the college campus. 

College officials said Sot had six passengers. Four of them are students who sustained injuries. 

On Tuesday night, hundreds of students held a vigil honoring Sot, saying he always wanted to do things right and keep people around him safe. It was no surprise to them that he offered to be the designated driver on the night of the crash.

In the last three days alone, a GoFundMe account set-up by a campus fraternity for the Fil-Am victim and his passengers has raised over $100,000. 

Read more on Balitang America.

source: news.abs-cbn.com