MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A hit-and-run on the city’s south side has claimed the life of a bicyclist, and now police are investigating it as a homicide.
The hit-and-run happened Wednesday night at the intersection of 28th Street and Pleasant Avenue South. On Friday morning, 24-year-old Jessica Hanson died.
Family members and police both believe someone saw the car and the driver who hit Hanson.
On Friday night, friends and family brought flowers and candles to the corner where the hit-and-run occurred. Hanson’s family came to tell people in the neighborhood who she was and hopefully hear from people what they know about the night she was hit.
“The pain is not going away for a long time, we know that, but we need to have closure as to what did happened that night, on this corner,” said Tom Kummrow, Hanson’s uncle.
She was on her way to see her boyfriend Wednesday night when the accident happened around 10:30 p.m.
According to police, Hanson was riding her bicycle north on 28th Street when a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on Pleasant Avenue ran the stop sign and hit her.
Witnesses say the vehicle’s headlights were not on. It sped away while dozens of people ran to Hanson’s aid.
“We’re really pleading to the public: If you know something, if you know anything, contact the Minneapolis Police Department and tell them what you know, even if you think it is insignificant,” Kummrow said. “If it’s a little piece that will help them we need to have closure here, and part of that closure is to know what happened.”
Hanson’s father, Jerome, says the only way for the family to begin to heal is to know who did this to his girl.
“We’re not out for blood,” he said. “It’s not an eye-for-an-eye type of deal, but we want justice, too. And the sooner you come to police, the better it’s going to be for that person and for us.”
If you have any information call Minneapolis Police at 612-692-TIPS (8477).
