AKRON, Ohio — An Akron family is completely broken now that their loved one is dead after police said he was involved in a hit-and-run last Wednesday.
"The person that did this needs to come forward. Turn yourself in,” said Lucretia Nelson, the grandmother of 23-year-old Richard Williams.
There are some people who choose to hide their pain and suffering.
Richia Williams and Nelson said it’s important for them to show their grief, so they said the person responsible knows what they took.
"They need to see this hurt. They need to see that my sister is not able to breathe,” said Richia. “That’s not right, my sister has to go through this.”
Richard’s mom is barely able to walk, let alone stand, as she is left carrying the weight of life without her son.
Thankfully, her family is by her side. But they said this loss is hard to process.
"You know how you put a puzzle together, and that piece is missing, and you search for it and search for it, and you can’t find it. Well, you took that piece from us,” said Nelson.
Just after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Akron police said officers responded to Russell Avenue and Laurel Avenue and found Richard with serious injuries after they said he was hit by a vehicle traveling westbound on Russell Avenue.
"You ran him down like he was nothing, and he was everything to us,” said Nelson.
We learned Richard was just five minutes from his dad’s house before he was hit and never made it home.
"He hung up from talking with his dad, and his dad said 20 minutes went by. He said, ‘Wait, where is my son?’ And he said he came out to look for him. He said he kept hearing sirens, kept hearing sirens, and he never would’ve thought it was for his son,” said Nelson.
Richard later died from his injuries at a local hospital.
Meanwhile, authorities said the driver involved left the scene after the crash.
"This hurt right here, I guarantee every family that has suffered from a tragedy like this is feeling this hurt. We’re a close-knit family, and they broke our link,” said Richia.
As investigators try to identify a suspect vehicle, which may be a white or silver 2021-2025 Kia, possibly a Sportage, with significant damage, the Williams’ family wants the driver to turn themselves in.
"Whatever affairs that you have that you need to take care of, you need to turn yourself in because you ran my number four down. My fourth grandchild,” said Nelson.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover Richard’s funeral costs.
