Mother says hit-and-run driver left son to die on side of road ‘like a dog’

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A local family is desperate for justice after a hit-and-run driver killed their loved one who was only 15 years old.

Quartez Mender was hit and killed by a driver along Flat Shoals Road early Wednesday morning, and the driver took off.

His family told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes they believe more than one person witnessed the incident.

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“A human being, you know, you hit him, you hit something. You heard that,” said Malaika Kulenga, Mender’s mother.

Kulenga said she doesn’t understand how anyone can hit a person and just keep going.

“They hit him and left him like a dog. He died on the street,” Kulenga said.

Police said Mender, who was short in stature, was standing on Flat Shoals Road in Decatur early around 2 a.m. Wednesday when the driver crashed into him.

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His mother told Fernandes that she was at work and her son was supposed to be home.

“Just like adolescence, they go through things, you know? He had started rebelling a little bit, but he didn’t deserve this,” Kulenga said.

Mender’s grandmother told Fernandes that he wanted to be a lawyer and they always talked about what he needed to do to reach that goal.

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Now, those dreams are shattered, and she has to help her daughter plan a funeral.

“They are supposed to bury me and now I have to bury my grandson. That hurts a lot,” the grandmother said.

If anyone has any information on this case, they are urged to contact the DeKalb County Traffic Specialist Unit at 770-724-7610 or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS.

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