CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A mother and father told Channel 2 Action News their New Year got off to an awful start after they learned their son was killed in a hit-and-run.
It happened one hour into the new year. Police said the driver who hit their son kept going. Now police are trying to find the car that hit 40-year-old Michael Newberry.
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“There’s a part of us missing,” Dianna Newberry said of her son’s death. He was killed as he tried to cross busy Highway 138 at Davidson Parkway in Clayton County around 1 a.m. Sunday.
“It’s been hard for me to sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see somebody hitting my baby with a car,” Newberry said.
The driver kept going. David Newberry, Michael’s father, doesn’t have kind words for that person.
“I think he’s the biggest piece of trash in the world especially if he knew what happened,” he told Channel 2′s Tom Jones.
The family said their son wasn’t expected to live past the age of five because of medical issues. He survived and got better but was developmentally delayed. That only fueled his desire to be his own man.
“He wanted to be independent so bad,” his father said.
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Michael had just gotten off work at a Taco Bell less than a 1/4 of a mile away. Officers said the driver left the scene in a silver Mercury Grand Marquis or Crown Victoria.
A man came to the scene and told Jones he saw the collision and tried to help. He was saddened when Jones told him Newberry died. He didn’t want to comment, but mumbled, “He was just trying to cross the road.”
Police said it was wet and foggy that night. Newberry’s parents said that might be true. But that doesn’t excuse what happened after the collision.
“Why you left my son after you hit him?” Newberry’s mother asked.
“Please, please, please,” his father began to say.
“Absolutely,” Michael’s mother interjected.
“Help us find this guy,” Michael’s father said, finishing his sentence.
The family is asking anyone willing to donate to funeral expenses to do so here.
Clayton County Police are asking anyone with information to give them a call.
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