Family seeks justice after North Philadelphia hit-and-run kills 32-year-old man
Philadelphia police are still searching for the driver who struck and killed 32-year-old Nafeece Jenkins early Sunday morning in North Philadelphia, and now his family is speaking out.
According to investigators, Jenkins was crossing North 12th Street near West Lehigh Avenue when a white Honda Accord hit him. First responders arrived just before 1:30 a.m., but Jenkins was pronounced dead at the scene.
The car believed to be involved in the crash was discovered abandoned just a block away. The driver had fled.
Family and friends say Jenkins was a kind, gentle man who didn't deserve to die in such a violent way. His mother, Sharon Carter, is devastated and wants answers.
"You hit my boy like he was a nobody," she told CBS News Philadelphia over the phone. "Why? Why hit him and run?"
Ring camera footage from the area captured the moment of the crash. One neighbor who lives nearby described the horror of witnessing the aftermath.
"I've never really witnessed anything like that," she said. "It was the worst thing I've ever seen."
Carter said she saw the video as well.
"I have seen the actual impact of how he died, so that image is going to stay with me because I actually seen exactly how he died, and I don't think that's fair," Carter said.
Neighbors said they didn't hear any sign of the driver trying to stop.
Dawn Brown, who lives in the neighborhood, said drivers often speed down Lehigh Avenue without caution.
"He was an innocent bystander just walking across the street, just minding his business," she said.
As the investigation continues, Sharon Carter is holding on to hope that the person responsible will come forward.
"He was loved," she said. "He didn't have to suffer like that."
"I would like for you to just turn yourself in," Carter said in a message for the driver who hit her son. "Don't do this to somebody else. Don't let somebody else have to experience what I experienced or what I seen. It's not fair to no one to just do what you did to my son, and then you kept running. You didn't just hit him, you killed him."
Jenkins' family gathered near his home at 58th and Arch streets Monday for a vigil to honor his life and memory and to call for justice. They released blue balloons in his honor.
"Just remember his smile, his joy, his love for life, love for people," said Nafeece Jenkins' grandmother, Eileen Jenkins.
Philadelphia police are asking anyone with information to come forward.