Father reacts to suspect reportedly fleeing country after fatal Oakland County hit-and-run
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Benjamin Kable, 22, died in January after he was killed in a hit-and-run. The driver of the suspected vehicle left the scene.
CBS News Detroit sat down with Kable's father, Michael Kable, who vividly remembers the morning he received the life-changing call.
"I knew immediately what it was soon as he said he was a sheriff's deputy that something bad had happened and he told me what happened."
Ben Kable, who was a Michigan State University student, was home for winter break. According to his parents, he went to a party for New Year's Eve.
"He took an uber from our house here to the party," Michael Kable said.
Hours later, the 22-year-old reportedly ordered another Uber ride to head back home. For unknown reasons, the driver asked him to get out of the car. Michael Kable said that happened on Rochester Road.
Ben Kable began walking down the road but was hit by a car around 5:45 a.m. in Jan. 1. Oakland County deputies say the driver left the scene, revealing the car was a newer model BMW 3 series.
"It's disturbing to know people in the community could do something like that," Michael Kable said.
New court filings from the FBI reveal the suspect is 57-year-old Tubtim "Sue" Howson. Howson is accused of fleeing the country and making a one-way flight to Bangkok, Thailand. In the filings, the FBI noted that Howson left on Jan. 3 and arrived in Thailand on or around Jan. 5.
According to the FBI, Howson is facing a federal unlawful flight to avoid a prosecution charge. A state charge of failing to stop at a serious accident was also filed.
Accountability is now what the family is seeking. Michael Kable said they're not out for vengeance.
"Accidents happen, but you know people have to take responsibility for their actions," he said. "I wish she would do the right thing and bring herself back because it's made it way worse for our family. It's super difficult to lose a child in the first place but to lose a child like this and then realize it's someone out there that doesn't have empathy to call an ambulance or render aid, it's terrible and honestly shakes your faith in humanity. I don't understand how someone could be like that."
FBI agents say at one point Howson allegedly told her associates "No cops, no cops" when urged to turn herself in.
"How could you do that are you not human? I mean this is a young man dying on the road. Just the level of narcissism there is over the top. I don't understand it," Michael Kable said.
He spent most of his career as an area ER doctor, and he knows all too well how sometimes those final moments are often the most critical. When asked could his son potentially have been saved, he said he's unsure.
"Over the course of my career, I've seen a lot of people come in that were DOA or unresponsive that get resuscitated. I can't answer that question with certainty, you at least deserve a shot at it," he said.
Ben Kable was an electrical engineering student and was set to begin his last semester in school.
"He was a great kid, lots of friends, very active. He was a wrestler, fisherman, blacksmith," Michael Kable said.
One comforting measure the family has witnessed is MSU offering to provide the Kable's with Ben's degree once the current semester finishes.
Though the bond with Michael Kable's wife and five other children has grown since his son's passing, it still feels unreal.
"It's very hard to literally accept the fact somebody who's been around all the time is actually gone. I think in your brain, you don't believe it. I thought for the first few days that he'd walk upstairs but obviously, that isn't going to happen," he said.
Through it, the family appreciates the community's help and the police.