CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Parents of a 23 year-old hit and killed by a vehicle that just kept going and didn’t stop to help say it is time to own up to the crime.
Every car driving down Carmel Road near I-485 Friday night got the same message from dozens of 23 year-old Jessie Hawkins' friends and relatives.
“Justice for Jessie,” the crowd yelled.
“Justice for Jessie,” as another car drove by.
"We're doing it for my baby, because someone hit him and left him in the road,” said Jessie’s mother Loretta Hawkins. You won't find a person in more pain.
"They didn't stop, they didn't call 911,” Hawkins said. She is a parent in desperate need of answers and closure.
Someone has to know something. "They just have to,” Hawkins said.
Jessie crashed his moped early Wednesday morning on Carmel Road. He was heading home after hanging out with friends.
While picking his moped off the road, and with the side mirror already in his side pocket, a large vehicle, believed to be a truck or SUV, hit Jessie and killed him.
Whoever did it just kept going.
"It's one of our neighbors,” said Jessie’s step-dad Steven Morosky. "It has to be because you don't come this way unless you live here," Morosky said.
Who was Jessie Hawkins?
His parents say a drug addict who recently beat his demons and just joined a church group in Charlotte to help other drug addicts fight their demons.
He knew the battle and wanted to make a difference. Loretta says just last week, Jessie helped three people get into rehab.
"He dedicated his life to it,” Hawkins said.
A life getting turned around is now lost.
The person who hit him didn't have the decency to stop or call for help. Relatives say some of the evidence police collected include tire tracks from Jessie’s chest where he was run over.
Investigators say anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at (704) 334-1600.
