COLUMBUS, Ohio — To his niece, William Moore Jr. was simply known as Binky. But along with being an uncle, he was a loving son, brother, fiancé, and more.
Now to all of his loved ones, he’ll be a memory.
“I’m never going to see him pull up on his bicycle, never going to be able to sit outside and listen to music, put food on the grill, never going to be able to have that family time anymore,” said Moore’s niece, Teairra Whitby. “They took that from us.”
Moore’s life was taken last Tuesday night as he was riding his bicycle along South Hamilton Road. According to a Columbus Division of Police report, a driver hit him and then left the scene.
But one piece of evidence was left behind – the passenger side rearview mirror from a white 2009-2013 Toyota Camry.
“Maybe the person who hit my uncle, maybe it was an accident, maybe you didn’t see him, but the fact that you didn’t stop, he has family, you know, it ripped our family apart,” Whitby said.
Whitby said her family has been struggling through grief, trying to come to terms with the knowledge that Moore will be missing from every future gathering.
She also says the family is working to find out how to make sure her uncle gets the proper veteran honors because he served in the U.S. Army.
Amid all of that, the family is still seeking answers, questioning how a driver could have killed a man and then left the scene. Whitby called it murder.
“Just tell us the truth, just come forward, I mean, just give us an apology,” she said. “We’re forgiving people, we’re not out to get revenge, we just want closure for my uncle. We just want justice. That’s all.”
10TV did reach out to Columbus police for an update on the investigation, but the detective assigned to the case was not in on Friday.