SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Family members of a father of six are on an emotional journey for justice after he was struck and killed near Balboa Park.
For Janice Johnson, it’s been a month of sleepless nights. “It’s un-describable. It’s pure torture,” she said.
According to police, on April 3, past 8 p.m., her brother, Darren Stevenson, was walking south on Pershing Drive in a bike lane, when a car struck him and fled the scene.
Stevenson, reportedly walking with a friend, was on his way to dinner. He was rushed to a hospital with major head trauma.
Stevenson was recently taken off life support and passed away last Sunday. The 54-year-old father leaves behind six grown children.
“It's actually like somebody ripped my heart out of my chest,” said Johnson.
Johnson calls her brother smart, spiritual, and funny. “He was a comedian, loved to make people laugh. He was a people person, knew everybody,” she said.
Stevenson had been homeless for the last few years. The crash happened near a safe sleeping lot where Stevenson was living.
“I want to know how someone could just leave a human being out there bleeding … This person has no conscience,” said Johnson.
As Johnson mourns her brother, she also searches for answers. The search began with a bedside vow at the hospital.
“I made a promise, until my last breath … I would find out who hit him and left him there,” she said. “He needs to be held accountable for his actions. He needs to be aware he took someone who was important and special."
Johnson and another family member have been in the area, looking for witnesses, hoping to help track down a hit-and-run driver.
Police believe the car that hit Stevenson may have been a black, older model Toyota Camry.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
