Driver sought in fatal hit-and-run
WILKES-BARRE - Police say they won't stop looking until they find the car that ended a child's life just days before Christmas in Luzerne County.
"It's a 24-hour effort, I can guarantee that. We're checking everything. We'll catch a break; it's just not soon enough. It's never soon enough," Wilkes-Barre Police Lt. Steve Olshefski said of the investigation into the death of 5-year-old Kevin Miller of Dallas, "The guys have really taken this one to heart. They're working all angles."
Kevin was crossing North Franklin Street at West North Street with his family after leaving a party just before 11 p.m. Friday, when a car struck him and sped off.
Despite emergency responders' best efforts, Kevin died of multiple traumatic injuries. At Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp., deputy Coroner Tom Moran ruled it was a homicide by motor vehicle.
A lot of tips have been called in, but nothing has panned out so far, Lt. Olshefski said Sunday. But police are determined to find the driver of the car.
Cameras belonging to the city and private establishments near the intersection captured the incident on video.
Based on that footage and witness description, police are seeking a red car, possibly a Pontiac Grand Am, which will have some degree of front-end damage. The car also had a sunroof or a moonroof. On that, "The video is quite clear," Lt. Olshefski said.
A memorial on West North Street grew on Sunday as word spread about the hit-and-run that claimed young Kevin's life.
Linda Fritzges, who taught Kevin and his twin brother, Christopher, at the I'm Big Now Learning Center in Dallas, still can't believe it happened. She's devastated.
"Oh, he was a sweetheart. Always smiling, always singing," she said of the little blond boy with the big grin. Kevin always remembered to say "please" and "thank you" - he was the most polite child Ms. Fritzges ever had in her 27 years of teaching.
Contact the writer: eskrapits@citizensvoice.com