Family pleads for information after baby dies in suspected street racing crash

DEKALB COUNTY — The family of an 8-month-old, who they said was killed from street racing, is asking for the public's help.

Channel 2's Craig Lucie met with the boy's mother and stepfather.

Bernard Rucker can barely get around after the Sept. 1 accident that broke his nose, left him with internal injuries and took away his infant stepson, Jeremiah Brown.

"We seen the car real fast and next thing I know, I got on the other side. He hit us. I woke up to a tree," Rucker said.

Rucker said when he saw that car, he thought they were racing someone else.

The boy's mother, Lakiedra Blount, was in the passenger seat as they headed north on Columbia Drive in Decatur.

"Another car came out of nowhere going real fast, and he was trying to get out of the way and we still got hit," Blount said.

Both parents said after they got hit, they lost control and hit a large tree head-on. The force of the impact killed Brown, who was in a baby seat in the back.

"I laid him down and tried to do CPR, and he responded for a little while, but he didn't respond too much like I wanted him to," Blount said.

Blount said a truck and an older model silver Honda Civic or Acura caused the accident.

"I know somebody is probably talking about it right now. Witnesses say they saw two cars racing," said the baby's grandmother, Cassandra Williams.

One neighbor told Lucie that she has seen multiple fatal accidents in front of her home where Brown was killed.

"I would say since I have lived here, I have seen eight or nine fatal accidents," Sylvia Jenkins said.

Jenkins said she and other neighbors have asked the county to put in guardrails in front of their homes since the accidents happen so often. She told Lucie that they have refused to install them.

Brown's family is hoping more people come forward with information about the accident and call the DeKalb County Police Department.

The family has set up a Facebook page remembering Jeremiah Brown.

WSBTV