Alleged hit-and-run driver charged in 11-year-old's death

ATLANTA — Police say a Clayton County man was driving drunk when he hit and killed a child and kept driving.

Gatha Dyer is accused of hitting 11-year-old Patrick Williams.  The boy was walking at Boulderpark Drive and Brownlee Road, where he was visiting an uncle and cousins.

“I just want everybody to know that he was a good person,” Williams’ twin sister, Makayla, told Channel 2's Jeff Dore.

“They took a piece of all our hearts when they took him away from us,” said the victim’s grandmother, Charleyne Wright.

“It was a senseless death, you know. Who hits a baby and leaves the scene?” Wright said.

The family said Dyer’s passenger got out of the car and returned to the scene, helping police arrest Dyer at his home within an hour.

No one was home when Dore went to Dyer’s home to get his side of the story. Dyer has been charged with vehicular homicide, DUI, hit-and-run and other crimes.

Meanwhile, Williams’ family is still trying to cope.

“That was my baby.  No one can replace him,” said Williams’ mother, Juanita Lowe. “I want to forgive his soul for doing this to my child, but I’ll never forget what he took from me.”

Relatives said Williams was supposed to be starting a new school this week.

WSBTV