FORT LAUDERDALE \u2013 Grieving family members are pleading for the public’s help after a beloved 70\u2011year\u2011old grandfather was struck and killed by a hit\u2011and\u2011run driver.<\/p>\n
“I am very upset, and I am heartbroken,” said Jazzlynn Simmons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She and Fort Lauderdale police say her 70\u2011year\u2011old father, Johnnie Lee Davis, died after being struck by a white pickup truck that did not stop.<\/p>\n
Police say it happened around 8 p.m. Monday on West Sunrise Boulevard at 4th Avenue. Family members say Davis was heading to a convenience store when he was struck.<\/p>\n
“He was trying to cross over to the store when a truck, a white pickup truck, hit him and kept going,” Simmons said.<\/p>\n
“Without stopping?” she was asked. “Without stopping,” she said.<\/p>\n
Loved ones remember Davis’ spirit\u00a0<\/p>\n
“He was a caring father,” Davis’ daughter said. “I mean, he was very funny. He was full of life and everything. He was ambitious, and everyone loved him.”<\/p>\n
She added, “This was my backbone. He kept me uplifted. He was my strength. And we just lost my mom two months ago, and my father was all I had.”<\/p>\n
Davis’s granddaughter, Jakayla Simmons, said, “He was very passionate. He was caring, and he loved his family and the community. I wish you would turn yourself in. We are not looking for revenge. We are not looking to retaliate. We just want justice.”<\/p>\n
Police searching for white pickup\u00a0<\/p>\n
Police said they are searching for a white pickup truck, though the make and model remain unknown. Investigators also have no information on where the driver may have been headed after the crash.<\/p>\n
The loss has been especially devastating for the family, who said Davis’s wife died just two months ago after suffering a heart attack. Now, they say they are praying for a break in the case and for someone to come forward.<\/p>\n
Family urges driver to come forward\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jazzlynn Simmons was asked, “What would you like to say to the driver who did this?”<\/p>\n
“Please reveal yourself,” she said.”Please come forward. I just want you to comply. I want justice for my father.”<\/p>\n
She added, “This is a very hard pill to swallow. This is something I don’t want anyone to experience. This is very devastating to the family.”<\/p>\n
Anyone with information that may help should call Fort Lauderdale Police or Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493\u2011TIPS (8477).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE \u2013 Grieving family members are pleading for the public’s help after a beloved 70\u2011year\u2011old grandfather was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[28,249,251,250,807],"class_list":{"0":"post-108391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-lauderdale","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-fort-lauderdale","10":"tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","11":"tag-fort-lauderdale-news","12":"tag-south-florida"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}