4-year-old killed in hit-and-run on Detroit’s east side, suspected driver turns himself in

Child was reportedly too short to be seen by driver

DETROIT – Customers at the Sunoco gas station on Seven Mile Road and Hoover Street still can’t believe a 4-year-old child was accidently killed Wednesday by a driver right in front of building’s doors.

“Sad day here at this gas station,” Ledell Hawkins said. “That ain’t right.”

Update: Man charged in fatal hit-and-run that killed 4-year-old in Detroit

“Could’ve been your child, my child, it could have been his child,” said Benard Young.

Local 4 has been told by police the father was inside the packed store with several other minor siblings at about 7:30 p.m. when at some point, the 4-year-old ran out of the store unattended.

Original story: Police: 4-year-old boy killed in hit-and-run at Detroit gas station

“Really, at night time, if you come to a gas station like this, you would want to take and hold your child’s hand and take him in there and make sure that you bring him up out of there,” Young added.

Someone appears to calls the child back into the store. Almost as soon as he runs in front of the parked pick-up, the truck speeds off, running over the little boy. The child was too small for the driver to see him in the very high truck.

“When you feel you’ve run over something, you want to stop and see what’s going on,” Young insisted.

That’s exactly what police say the driver did. A photo surfaced showing the driver holding the little boy as he tried to get help. The sad part is that he left the scene right afterwards.

“Never leave the scene. Stay there until the police come. At least they’ll say, ‘Hey, he felt kind of remorseful, he didn’t leave.’ So it was an accident. And you’d have to suffer whatever consequence you get,” Hawkins concluded.

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About the Author:

Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.