Sacramento mother pushes for driver who killed her son to come forward
SACRAMENTO - New research shows California is topping the list of deadly crashes involving hit-and-runs.
A local mom continues to push for the driver who killed her son to come forward. He would've turned 42 this month.
His mom is still heartbroken and outraged at how many other families suffer the same pain.
Lisa Wiley holds on to her favorite pictures of her son -- what she has left to keep his memory alive. A driver hit Robert while he was walking back to her house in June 2022. The driver took off and was never caught.
"To teach people to do different, not just do whatever they want and just get away with it. There has to be consequences," Lisa said. "It's just a coward to just leave people laying there. How would they like it done to them?"
In the year and a half since, Lisa's never given up hope in finding the driver who left her son lying in the street to die.
She's posted flyers and billboards near Fair Oaks Boulevard and El Camino in Carmichael where it happened. She even has his picture and plea for information on the side of her car.
"I want to bring awareness that my son's life matters. And like anyone who gets hit and killed, their lives matter also," Lisa said.
Lisa isn't alone. Research using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows California with the highest rate of hit-and-runs in the country. Suzuki law offices pulled the most recent data between 2017 and 2021, revealing nearly 2,000 deadly hit-and-runs, two-thirds above the national average.
"It's like there's a lot of people getting hit and ran over, and my heart goes out to those families," Lisa said.
She's heartbroken, but not losing hope.
"I miss him, I cry, but my hope in Christ keeps me going," Lisa said.
The most recent data from the California Office of Traffic Safety shows deadly hit-and-runs continue going up, climbing nearly 3.5% between 2021 and 2022.
