Tears streamed down a distraught mother’s face. Friends and family members reached out to each other for a hug, anything to anchor them and keep them grounded.
Loved ones yearned for answers, and others wore solemn faces as they prayed in unison.
Grief was seen in the form of hot breath on a cold night as mourners remembered their family member and friend once more at a candlelight vigil in Westside Park Tuesday.
They gathered for Joe Minor Jr. who was the victim of a hit-and-run incident that occurred at 11 p.m., Oct. 5, on South Morrison Road, next to the First Brethren Church.
A neighbor’s video surveillance footage showed Minor Jr. walking southbound, when what appears to be an SUV headed in the same direction, struck him. Muncie Police Department released the footage Oct. 7.
Minor Jr.’s father, Joe Minor Sr., said his son was found when a few girls who were driving by noticed shoes lying on the road, turned around and found Minor Jr. in a ditch by the side of the road. The police crash report said MPD was notified of the incident around 12:30 a.m., and arrived on scene at 12:42 a.m.
When they arrived, officers found an unresponsive Minor Jr. bleeding severely from a head injury, according to the police report. Minor Sr. said the police notified him of the incident at roughly 2 a.m.
Minor Sr. said his son was on his way to his home in the nearby Colonial Crest Apartments, where he lives with his brother. According to bank records accessed by Minor Jr.’s mother, Teresa Minor, he was on his way home from the McDonald’s where he used to work.
At the hospital, the doctor said Minor Jr.’s kidneys and pancreas were destroyed and that he was brain-dead, Minor Sr. said.
“He had a tube out of his mouth and couldn’t open his eyes,” Minor Sr. said. “And he had a heart rate of like, 30.”
At 2:42 a.m., Oct. 6, Minor Jr. was pronounced dead at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.
“He was 26 when he got hit and he died when he was 27,” Minor Sr. said. “So he didn’t get to see his 27th birthday.”
“He didn’t have to die at 27, much less on his birthday,” Teresa said behind tearfilled eyes at the vigil. “There’s such a hole in my heart that’ll never be replaced.”
“To me, this is just a sweet kid and he never did anything to hurt anybody.” said Donna Lucas, bookkeeper at Colonial Crest Apartments, who helped organize the vigil. “And somebody just left him alongside the road to die. And that’s unacceptable to me.”
Minor Sr. said there is no sidewalk on either side of Morrison Road between the roundabout on Jackson Street and River Road, near Colonial Crest Apartments. Furthermore, the police report says that part of the street is dark and not lit.
“So, you really don’t have a choice but to walk down the street or the end of the street,” Minor Sr. said. “Because if you’re in people’s yards, you got to go around telephone poles, mailboxes and you still end up in the street anyway.”
Minor Sr. also said while he’s not aware of people being hurt or killed on Morrison Road in the past, neighbors have seen cyclists get hit and people’s mailboxes knocked down by passing vehicles. He also said it was common to see vehicles being driven over the 30 mph speed limit.
“If someone accidentally hit him, they would have stopped and tried to help him,” Minor Sr. said. “But just to run him over and leave him dead at the side of the road, just ain’t right.”
Minor Sr. also said the neighbor, whose video surveillance captured the incident, said the driver didn’t even touch his brake lights and continued driving forward. Minor Sr. himself never watched the entire footage.
“So, had he made another hundred yards or so, he could’ve cut through the grass, and come the back way, and get in here,” Minor Sr. said. “He almost made it home.”
Minor Sr. said the worst part about the accident is not knowing what his son went through after being hit.
“So, his heart was still beating for almost four hours,” Minor Sr. said. “With massive brain injuries … who knows what he went through.”
Since the video surveillance was in black and white, MPD officers have not yet been able to determine the exact vehicle involved in the accident or its color, apart from observing it to be a SUV.
Minor Sr. said the vehicle would have damages on the front passenger’s side and possibly the passenger’s side of the windshield.
“I just want whoever is out there to come forward,” Teresa said. “Or if they know somebody, to come forward. Help us.”
“I mean, nothing is going to bring him back, but we’d like to know what happened, who did it, why somebody left him on the side of the road,” Minor Sr. said. “Sitting around without answers is pretty bad.”
Sgt. Chris Kirby said the Muncie Police Department is using its resources and technology on the case and will make any relevant information known to the public.
Minor Jr.’s funeral was held Monday, at Beech Grove Cemetery, and the Minors hope to take further steps to ensure this doesn’t happen to another family
“We plan to advocate for a sidewalk,” Teresa said. “That’s the next goal.”
Minor Sr. also plans on reaching out to Muncie’s building commissioner regarding the issue.
Contact Rohith Rao with comments at rprao@bsu.edu or on Twitter @RaoReports.
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