Family wants answers with still no arrests in Lawndale hit-and-run that killed Vietnam veteran
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It has been nearly years since a Lawndale neighborhood man was killed by a hit and run driver.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported Friday, the family of the man, Walter Williams Jr., is continuing their quest for justice in his case.
"My uncle meant the world to me," said Williams' niece, Kina Smith.
Smith lovingly calls the father of three, and grandfather of nine, the family patriarch. The 72-year-old was killed by a hit-and-run driver nearly three years ago.
There are still no arrests in the case.
"It's painful, mindboggling – trying to find out what happened, how did it happen, you know?" Smith said. "No answers to anything."
It was 2:21 a.m. on Monday, July 13, 2020. Williams was on his bike at 15th Street and Central Park Avenue when someone ran him over as he was crossing the intersection.
Williams' family really believes someone in Lawndale either knows something or saw something, and they want that person to come forward in their quest for justice."
Community activist Rev. Robin Hood is Williams' cousin.
"We know for a certainty other people were out here, because we were told by other folks in the neighborhood – and there was people in their windows. They heard when it happened," Hood said. "So it's definitely some people that seen it."
As Williams was riding his bike east, the driver hit him – and kept going south on Central Park Avenue. Williams ended up in the middle of the block.
Police say witnesses saw a white Pontiac Grand Prix in the area at the time of the hit-and-run.
"He survived the Vietnam War. He survived the gangs of Chicago," Hood said, "and to get killed one block away from his house is heartbreaking."
Williams' family says the Vietnam veteran, Chicago Department of Water Management retiree, and avid horseback rider since his 20s, was on his way to the local convenience store to buy a pack of cigarettes when the hit and run driver claimed his life.
Chicago Police are asking anyone with information to contact the police Major Accident Investigation Unit at (312) 745-4521, or submit a tip anonymously online at CPDTIP.com.