Eleven-year-old Jalon James was on a milk run with his older brother when he was unexpectedly hit by a driver who dragged him for a half a block, then fled the scene in Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood.
As they continue to grieve the young boy they called a fierce family protector, family members on Friday called on the driver to come forward and confess.
"You cheated him out of his life," said his aunt Nikita Harrison. "He was only a kid. How do you sleep?"
According to officials, James was crossing the street in the 3300 block of West 16th Street Thursday around 10:20 a.m. when the accident occurred.
According to a police report, James was dragged by the car for half a block. The car stopped briefly, then sped away, according to police.
Police surveillance video shows an eastbound driver pass through a yellow light at Homan as James and another person were crossing the street.
James continued forward and was struck by the vehicle.
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Paramedics took James to a nearby hospital where he was pronounce dead, police said.
Officers found the wanted vehicle abandoned later that morning on another street in Lawndale, according to police. Someone had removed the vehicle’s license plates and had discarded a face mask, which police collected as evidence.
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Police are still searching for the driver.
"How can you hit a child that age any child and keep going?" James' grandmother Nicole Harrison said. "You stopped and keep going. You know you hit a child, left him laying there helpless. I just don’t understand at all."
The fatal accident has some neighbors calling for lowered speed limits and stop signs. Family and activists are also asking for the driver and any witnesses to come forward.
James was one of seven children in his family. He is remembered as a protector of his younger siblings, and a young boy who was active in his school and community.
"He loved to dance. He loved to play," Nikita Harrison said. "He was a protector of brother and sisters, he was into boxing, in a lot of activities at school."
Family members said an outpouring of support, both in person and in their online fundraiser, has them surprisingly grateful, but now, they're looking for justice.
