Roadside Memorial Honors Lauderhill Boy Struck By Car

LAUDERHILL (CBS4) - A roadside memorial grew Sunday in honor of a 7-year-old boy who was struck and killed by a car Saturday night in Lauderhill.

The accident happened along Northwest 27th Court west of 56th Avenue on part of what locals call "the U-block."

Michael Lorenzo Jackson was killed while crossing the street alone, his mother said.

"He's a terrific child," Marqueta Lawson said about her son. "Anybody that ran in to him fell in love with him first sight."

Lawson told CBS 4's Lauren Pastrana Michael was an active boy.

"You have to have his hand at all times," she explained.

Lawson said no one was holding her son's hand when he crossed the street Saturday night.

"At some point the child got out in to the street and part of the investigation is to figure out how that happened," Lauderhill Police Captain Rick Rocco said.

The driver, a 20-year-old woman, stopped and waited for police. No charges have been filed.

"We'll look at things like speed, lighting, whether or not he ran in to the roadway or was standing there. All questions we have to answer," Capt. Rocco said.

Police said the boy was in the care of a babysitter at the time.

Lawson said she thought her son was with his god sisters, including Daniella Francois.

Francois said she was in the house braiding hair when the accident happened.

"It really hurt me," Francois said. "I was up all night. It hurt bad."

Instead, the boy was with another neighbor, Lashonda James, a girl Michael's mother said she didn't even know.

"I took him home and I was walking back," James said. "I guess he walked out in the road."

James said the car appeared to be speeding. She said she stayed with Michael after the accident and yelled for someone to call 911.

She started a roadside memorial in honor of the boy many people called "Mike Mike"

Family members also dropped off teddy bears, balloons and flowers. Even strangers stopped by Sunday to pay their respects.

"We're going to truly miss him. I miss him right now," said Michael's godmother Rebecca Robinson. "I wish I could just been there for him at this time. Right now it's just hard to think he's gone."

"It's a tragic situation," Capt. Rocco said. "It's been a rough weekend for everybody. Any time a child is struck by a car, it tears at your heart strings, especially this time of year."

"God brought him on home," Lawson said. "My child was an angel."

Neighbors said kids play on the street where the accident occurred all the time, and that cars speed through there often. They said they've been asking for speed bumps to be installed.