Family Of Crash Victim Wants City To Add More Lighting To Roads

A Tulsa family is fighting for change after their loved one was hit and killed by a car.

Police say the driver turned himself in. Now Gerome Rucker Junior's family says they want to make sure no one else dies the same way he did.

Gerome Dell Rucker Junior's family says he was always the life of the party and says he'll always be remembered for giving people nicknames and for his signature dance move, but on Friday night, their lives were forever changed.

"All of a sudden we heard police, fire, everything,” said Shannah McFayden.

McFayden says her Uncle Dell was walking on MLK Friday night from her Mom's house to another family member's house when he was hit by a truck that took off.    

Tulsa Police say they found parts of the Ford F-150  at the scene and the suspect turned himself in the next morning.

"They're going to continue the investigation, collect all the evidence from everyone involved and present it to the DA's Office for charges,” said Tulsa Police Officer Jeanne Pierce.

Officer Jeanne Pierce says TPD responds to a lot of crashes involving pedestrians where lack of lights and sidewalks play a major role, and Rucker's family believes those two things contributed to his death.

"We're going to fight until they get some lights under our cousin's name," said Rucker’s cousin, Jerome Owens.

Jerome Owens says Rucker is his third family member killed walking along MLK.

Rucker’s family says they know nothing can bring him back to them, so now they're making it their mission to add lighting along the roadway so no one else loses a family member as they did.

"We need to have some type of lighting, some type of reflectors, some type of sidewalk, we need something here in our black community to protect our people,” said McFayden.

Tulsa Police say they'll hand their investigation over to the District Attorney's Office once it's complete.