Search Continues For Hit and Run Suspect
GRAND PRAIRIE (CBSDFW.COM) - John Raidy, the Grand Prairie six-year-old boy struck and killed by a hit and run driver, was returning home from the store after buying candy with his mother and sister.
Lauren Raidy, John's mother, watched as a driver ran a red light, hit her son and carried him on the hood for about 300 feet, then drove away.
"He honked at us to tell us to get out of the way. He ran a red light. We were in the crosswalk, we weren't crossing illegally, we had the right of way, and he hit my son," she recalls.
Grand Prairie police have released multiple images and surveillance video of the suspect's vehicle. They describe it as a newer model black or dark blue 4-door hatchback or small SUV with headlights and taillights that wrap around the corner of the vehicle and a rear axle that is close to the rear of the vehicle. Police suspect there will be damage to the front bumper and the hood. The vehicle was traveling southbound on Carrier at Holiday Hills and continued traveling southbound after hitting John.
Lauren, who was pushing her two-year old daughter in a stroller, was just a couple of steps behind her son. She witnessed the horrific crime, and says it keeps playing over and over in her head.
"He kept going, and I saw him fly up in the air," she says of her son. "And then the car stops, then he just took off."
Those last images of her son are burned into her brain, but Lauren says she will remember John as a happy kid, who was laughing and singing moments before he was hit.
"On the worst day you were having, he could look at you and smile and he would look at you and say 'I love you,' and it would make everything better."
She is calling for the driver to come forward.
"I hope he grows a conscience and turns himself in for doing this to a little boy."
A Grand Prairie police sergeant calls this the worst accident he's seen in his 22 years investigating traffic accidents. Anyone with information about this crime is being asked to call 972-237-8790.
Once caught, the driver will face charges of running a red light and failing to stop and offering help, which is a felony.
Also Check Out:
