An elderly man who walked with the benefit of a cane was killed in a hit-and-run on the city's South Side Wednesday night.
Lawrence Moore, 80, was crossing the street near 53rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. when he was struck. He'd just gotten off a Chicago Transit Authority bus after spending an evening with friends and was only about a half-block away from his apartment.
Moore, who had walked with the aid of a cane since falling on a patch of ice last winter, was struck and was carried several feet on the hood of the car before falling off. The vehicle did not stop.
He was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
"He didn't do anything to anyone and now he's gone," his close friend, Laurie Morgan, said as she wiped away tears. She said she will not have peace of mind until the driver of the car steps forward.
"If you are a real person, a real human being, you will turn yourself in."
Moore lived most of his last 30 years alone in a Hyde Park apartment complex, according to the building's manager, Donald Whitfield Johnson.
"Mr. Moore did not deserve this," he said. "Whoever is responsible should have the courage to step forward."
Johnson said Moore worked at a soap factory most of his life. He was a sports lover and loved to go to a nearby bar to watch the Sox and Bulls play on TV.
Another tenant in the complex, Rodney Williams, said Moore was "like a grandfather," and had an independent spirit. He said Moore often refused help offered to him. Williams, a criminal justice major, said he had no doubt that the driver of the vehicle would be found.
Steven Steward, who works at one of the taverns Moore liked to frequent, said Moore spent several years as a cook in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He said Moore liked to banter with other people about politics and history.
"It's just tragic to see him go like that," Steward said.
