Teen Charged In Deadly Hit And Run Crash On New Year's Eve
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A young boy has died and another is hospitalized after a hit and run accident over the weekend.
13-year-old Zahgwe St. Dic and his 15-year-old friend Cedric Tipton were riding bikes in the 3300 block of Northwest 19th Street in Fort Lauderdale on New Year's Eve when they were hit by a car.
The driver took off, leaving the injured boys on the side of the road.
Both kids were taken to the hospital, where Zahgwe later died.
"He was a quiet kid but he was very enthusiastic about school and about his future," said Broward School Board Member Dr. Rosalind Osgood.
Dr. Osgood is a friend of Zihgwe's family. She, like the family, is crushed by his death.
He was a seventh grader at Dillard who loved football and school.
"He had a bright future ahead of him, was very cooperative," she said. "He was a kid who wanted to do the right thing wanted to have a successful future, not only for himself but for his family."
19-year-old Michael Jumpp is charged in the case.
Investigators say he was behind the wheel when he hit the two, then took off. Dr. Osgood knows him too.
"Unfortunately, the two young boys were hit by another young adult who is also a former student at Dillard High School who was afraid and kind of left the scene," she said. "After he had the accident he went home and told his mom and he went and turned himself in."
Osgood says Jumpp eventually did the right thing by turning himself in, but believes this can serve as a call to action for the community.
"It's also an opportunity for our community to step up and get more involved in the lives of our African American males so that we can try to support them and help them make decision when they're in crisis like this," Dr. Osgood said.
Tipton, Osgood said, is on life support at Broward Health Medical Center.
A GoFundMe page has been started to help with burial expenses for Zahgwe.
