‘A cowardly act:’ Grieving wife wants deadly hit-and-run driver to come forward

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The search is on for the driver who police said hit and killed an elderly man in Northwest Jacksonville.

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68-year-old Robert Lee Johnson was killed in the crash, according to his wife. It happened on West 45th street and Avenue B late Wednesday night.

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Community members were paying their respects and put up a makeshift memorial for him. Police said he was hit and killed by a red dodge charger; the car’s driver didn’t stop to help.

“It makes me feel terrible,” his wife Brenda Johnson said. “That’s a coward, a cowardly act for a human being to hit another human being and run and leave him like a dog.”

His wife Brenda Johnson told Action News Jax they were married for 45 years, and she found out what happened early Wednesday morning.

“I couldn’t do nothing but sit down, I couldn’t believe it,” she said in tears.

ORIGINAL STORY: JSO: Elderly man hit and killed while crossing Avenue B, suspect on the run

A memorial sits near West 45th Street and Avenue B where he was struck while crossing the road.

Yoka Daniels said she witnessed the red charger speeding before it hit Johnson.

“I was sitting in the car at the store, I saw a red charger fly past go thru the light, at least 60-80 miles per hour and I heard the impact,” she said. “He hit the windshield and rolled off and they kept going.”

Loved ones and friends said Johnson spent time around two food mart’s in the area and helped clean up sometimes. His wife said he didn’t deserve to die this way.

“Robert Lee was a good man, he was a Coast Guard veteran,” she said. “He was a good person, good-hearted, nothing bad about him.”

She has a message for the driver.

“Wherever you’re at, coward, you shall become to justice because this is not over, you will be brought to justice,” she said.

Police are asking anyone with information about the charger and the crime to call them.

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