Family members say 15-year-old Raheem Kelly was still very much a child, but his dreams were anything but childish.
"He wanted a fishing career. He wanted to go to tournaments. He had skills. He was a great fisherman," said Ruth Cox, Raheem's aunt.
Alice Kelly remembers her grandson as a sweet boy who was blossoming into a young man.
"He told me he wanted to go to college. Now, he can't go to college," she said.
Police said Raheem was killed Sunday night when a car struck him and his friend, Theodore Leach, as they were riding a bike along Martin Luther King Parkway. Police said the driver kept on going.
"They didn't even have the decency to stop to see if they could save his life," Kelly said.
Theodre Leach, 13, was injured, but he is back at home and his mother, Minnie Leach, is torn with mixed emotions.
"Raheem was like one of my own kids. He always called me Mama," Leach said.
Family members are urging that the person involved in the hit-and-run accident turn themselves in.
"Please turn yourself in because the life you took was of a young kid who hadn't begun to live yet," Kelly said.
Police have recovered bits and pieces of the car. They believe the car involved is a green or gray car with front-end damage, however, they do not know what make or model the car is.
At this time there are no suspects.
Anyone with information is asked to call the
Wilson Police Department
at (252) 399-2323.
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