DETROIT – Nearly five months after 29-year-old Gary Browning was killed in a hit-and-run on Detroit’s west side, his family says the pain has only gotten worse. But they also say their determination to find the driver responsible has only gotten stronger.
“It’s heartless, and we [are] still in pain,” Browning’s aunt, Tameka White, said. “All we want is justice for my nephew. Period.”
Michigan State Police told Local 4 Browning was hit on Dec. 27, 2025, around 2:45 p.m., along westbound I-96 near the Greenfield exit after he and his girlfriend ran out of gas.
According to police, Browning and his girlfriend were walking along the shoulder of the freeway when a dark-colored vehicle hit him and kept going.
White said Browning had turned around to check on his girlfriend walking behind him moments before the crash.
“A car came once he turned around and hit him on the right,” White said. “You hit him. You felt it.”
She said Browning suffered devastating injuries, including seven cracked ribs, a broken femur, a traumatic brain injury, a collapsed lung and bleeding in his brain.
“When he got to the hospital, they had to rush him in and have emergency surgery so they can stop the bleed,” she said. “The doctor said that it was amazing that he was alive.”
Browning survived for 14 days before dying from his injuries on Jan. 11, 2026, according to his family.
“He was just clinging on in pain,” White said. “That’s sad for somebody to pass like that or suffer in that manner.”
Browning leaves behind four young children, all under the age of 10, his aunt said.
“They have to survive without him,” she said. “Who is that really fair to?”
Family members describe Browning as a family man and someone who loved making people laugh. She said the family refuses to stop pushing for answers.
“We gotta fight for him, because he’d do the same for us,” she said.
Michigan State Police say investigators are making progress in the case, but no arrests have been announced.
Anyone with information about this deadly hit-and-run is asked to contact the Michigan State Police Metro South Post at 734-287-5000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. You can remain anonymous.