Miami Family Pleads For Answers In Weekend Hit & Run
MIAMI(CBS4) - A grieving mother and father are asking for the public's help after their 18-year-old son loses his life after his all-terrain vehicle was struck by a hit-and-run driver this weekend.
"My son meant a lot to me. He was my last child," said Ada Times, the mother of Howard Douglas Times, a senior at Miami Northwestern Sr. High School.
"That was a human being you hit," she told CBS4's Peter D'Oench. "He was not a dog. I'm asking you please turn yourself in. You took a lot, not just from me, but from this family. I just lost my Mom. If you can't do it for anybody else, do it for her."
Yellow crime scene tape marks the spot where Times was struck at 7:20 Saturday night. Miami Police said Times was southbound on NW 12th Avenue when he was struck at the intersection of NW 67th St. by a vehicle that was eastbound. Police said that vehicle may have been a white Dodge Durango.
Police said Howard was thrown from his dirt bike and left on the side of the road as the driver left the scene, without stopping and helping Times. The accident left him in extremely critical condition but on Monday afternoon, Ada Times told D'Oench, "Right now he is gone. He is brain dead."
"That was my world and my everything," she said. "He passed the test to go to the Navy. He was looking forward to a big career. He wanted to play football and go to college. He had a good heart."
Times' father, Michael Montgomery, told D'Oench, "I feel that the person who did that, to me, he was nothing but a coward. Only cowards hit somebody and keep on going and don't understand that they are taking someone's child. If you're able to wake up every day and look at your own child, you should know better than that."
"If you don't have that type of heart, your Mom must have taught you nothing," said Montgomery. "He was my friend and my buddy. He meant a lot to me. He loved to play football. He would go out of his way to help you."
At the scene, witness Alan West told D'Oench he saw the very end of the accident.
"I tried to help the guy," he said. "I tried to help him as much as possible. I came out and saw the vehicle going away, heading towards Northwest 7th Avenue on 67th Street. I'm not sure if it was a white Dodge Durango. It was a white vehicle. It seemed more like a white Range Rover. This is terrible. This needs to stop."
Breann Haugabook said she and Times planned to get married.
As tears flowed down her face, she said, "We all loved him. It hurts everybody, to leave him like that. I loved him with all my heart. He was my everything. He was my best friend. I talked to him every day. He called me every morning. He would tell me how much he loved me. And he would wake me up for school every day."
Ada Times said, "I just want you to turn yourself in. I know you have kids. You don't want someone to run over your child and leave your child for dead."
If you can help, call the Miami Police Department's traffic homicide unit at (305) 603-6525. Those with information who want to remain anonymous should contact Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
You can also visit www.crimestoppersmiami.com and select "give a tip" or send a text message to 274637, enter "csmd" followed by your tip information and press "send."
