A 21-year-old U.S. airman was hit and killed while trying to fix a tire in early November on I-24 in Dade County.
Now, his family is asking for the public’s help tracking down the trucker responsible.
“We’re hoping, that whoever was on the road traveling at that time seen something that could lead to a tip on who did this,” Savannah Pickett, the victim’s sister, said. “It’s been really, really hard, just trying to make peace with things.”
The truck hit and killed Demetrius Norwood III as he tried to fix a tire on I-24 in Dade County at mile marker two near the Tennessee border on Nov. 2, before 9 p.m..
“To have my son asking for his dad and I can’t say anything. Besides, he’s in heaven,” Jayda Hughes, the victim’s girlfriend, said. “I was, comforting him and talking to him.”
The Georgia State Patrol says the truck continued west, fleeing the scene, and they do not have a clear description of it.
Norwood’s girlfriend and two-year-old stepson were there that night.
She says the tire had fallen off her car, which was stuck in the right lane, and he was trying to fix it. She says she used a flashlight to warn other cars to move over, and then the truck came. Hughes said, “He swerved over. That was how he hit him. Like he was going fast and he swerved and he saw there.”
Loved ones say Norwood’s life — including his service in the Air Force, his internship at NASA, and his studies at Alabama A and M University — was abruptly cut short that night on a North Georgia highway. Pickett said they are asking anyone who may have seen the incident around 9 p.m. to come forward.
Hughes said, “One small piece of information could lead to so many answers.” Pickett said, “He was so caring. He smiled every time you say, you know ? We just want closure.”
Norwood’s family is pleading for help as investigators work to track down the driver. Georgia State Patrol detectives say the investigation is still active.
The family has asked anyone who knows or may have seen anything to reach out to law enforcement.
