Family of hit-and-run victim pleads for community help
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- The family of 31-year-old Ronald Reed made an impassioned plea Monday for help finding whoever killed their loved one in a hit-and-run. It happened a week ago near the Cumberland Road Fire Department.
Aiyanna Reed, 7, just wants her daddy back.
"I love my daddy," she said, "and he was great to me."
Ronald Reed was struck and killed Aug. 11 by a driver who only stopped long enough to check out the damage to his vehicle, and then sped off.
Surveillance pictures show the driver standing in front of his car on a side street checking the front-end damage. State troopers say if the driver had stopped, he might not face any charges. Now, he faces a felony hit and run.
Monday, Reed's family placed flowers around a barren grave site in a tiny church cemetery near Lumber Bridge, in Robeson County. Reed's mother wept as she knelt by her son's grave.
"I should not be burying my son," she said. "I need closure. I am losing sleep. I am not eating. It's just taken my breath away."
Her grandson, 14-year-old Ronald Reed III, said he and his father did everything together.
"He took me to baseball practice," he said. "Watched me play with my team. We would go to the batting cage. We went fishing. We did laser tag."
Ronald Reed was killed on his wife's birthday. She said he had gone to Fayetteville to get her a present. They were married 12 years. She said it was love at first sight when she first met Reed 13 years ago. She said he always made her laugh. She is begging anyone who could help identify her husband's killer to contact authorities.
"If there is anyone that has information, I beg you please contact police even anonymously" said Syreeta Reed. "I need justice for him and my kids, even if we just know what happened."
Ronald Reed III also asked help in catching his Dad's killer.
"Please can you turn him in? For me and my family," he asked.
The young family is forever changed by a tragedy they can't understand. Their one wish now is for closure and justice.
"I don't hate anyone," said Syreeta Reed. "I just need to know what happened."
Anyone with information on the hit-and-run is being asked to contact the Fayetteville Highway Patrol Office at (910)486-1334, or call 911.
