LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A family is searching for answers after their 16-year-old son was hit by a car, while walking to school with his sister.
"I was woken up and I heard a crash. I ran down because I called my daughter and she was screaming and I didn't know what was going on," Joneika Clarkson said.
Clarkson's son and daughter, Francois and Franchesca, were walking to the bus stop before school on the morning of Jan. 15, near the corner of Oak and 15th St. Around 6:30 a.m. the family said a truck hit Francois.
"I heard his car speeding up and I thought he was going to go straight past me but when I turned around he was coming my way," Francois said.
"He ran over his leg, he's got bruising, he's got stitches," Joneika said.
Francois was taken to the hospital that morning.
LMPD said before hitting Francois on 15th St., the driver, heading east on Oak St. also hit another car with a woman and kids inside. They were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The driver left both accidents behind.
"He tried to have him stop. He asked for him to stop," Joneika said. "He had a choice. He could've stopped when he hit the first car and he really could've stopped when he hit my child."
The family said they're thankful no one was killed.
"It could've been worse than what it was," Franchesca said.
"I can't protect my kids from everything. This should've never happened," Joneika said. "Now I'm just trying to figure out ways to get them to school in a different manner."
Now, they want answers.
"We don't know what the car was, we don't know anything. We're trying to get the businesses around to help us with video footage, Joneika said. "They both want to go back and live a normal life but how can you live a normal life when you feel like somebody is out here and doesn't care about your life or anybody else's life?"
"People make mistakes. You could've just stopped and helped, that's all you had to do," Franchesca said.
"I just hope you turn yourself in," Francois added.
LMPD said there's no information on the suspected vehicle. Francois and Franchesca said they believe it was a silver SUV.
Anyone who may have witnessed the accident is asked to call 574-LMPD.
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