'I just want answers': Hope Mills man's hit-and-run death still unsolved two months later
More than two months after a Hope Mills man was killed in a hit-and-run, his mother is still searching for answers.
Andrew Fitch, 32, was struck by a vehicle just after midnight on June 10 as he crossed Camden Road near Thomas Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His friend, Scott Weems, 59, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Police said the driver did not stop but instead continued driving toward Hope Mills Road.
"I just want justice for him," Fitch's mother, Bonnie Devine, said Wednesday by phone from her home in Erwin. "I just want answers."
Hope Mills Police Chief Stephen Dollinger said the busy road is home to a movie theater and multiple businesses. At least seven restaurants and a pharmacy are near the intersection where the men were hit.
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"There was cameras everywhere where he got hit," Devine said. "The Wendy's was right there. They must have had a camera. Someone must have had a camera."
Devine said she learned her son was dead when she arrived for a visit later the same day of the wreck and was unable to find him. After seeing a post on Facebook about the hit-and-run, she contacted law enforcement.
"Me and my son Kevin went to the Hope Mills police and waited for the detective to come out," Devine said. "I said, 'I'm looking for my son. I'm not sure if he was the one that was hit.' And they told me he died at the scene."
Originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, Fitch and his family had relocated to Cumberland County about 15 years ago in search of affordable living, according to Devine. Fitch was unable to work, his mother said, but he still stayed busy, always trying to help his family and anyone who seemed to need it.
"Especially if he seen a homeless person on the street," Devine said. "He would give them a couple dollars he had in his pocket. Even if it was his last, he would give it to a homeless person.
"Overall, he was a good guy. He liked to help people out, no matter what it was."
The middle of three children, Fitch was especially close with his mother and brothers, Kevin and John, Jr., Devine said.
Now, she said, she has to call her son's voicemail to hear his voice.
"I like to hear it once in a while," she said.
Three days after Fitch was killed, Hope Mills police put out a news release requesting the public's help in locating the vehicle that struck the men. Officials said it was a two-tone Toyota 4-Runner believed to have been made in the late 1990s or early 2000s. On Tuesday, the department posted the information on its Facebook page and again asked for the public's assistance.
"The suspect vehicle was last seen traveling south on South Main Street passing Trade Street towards Cameron Road," the statement said, describing a path that would take nearly 15 minutes to travel.
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Chief Dollinger said information from the public is crucial in finding Fitch's killer.
"We feel with the public's help in locating that vehicle, we'll be able to solve this and bring justice to the family of the victim," Dollinger said, "and hopefully bring the driver that didn't care enough to stop to justice."
Devine said her health is declining, and she undergoes dialysis three times a week. She wants her son's belongings, still in police custody, returned to her, and she wants to know who killed her child before she dies, she said.
"I just hope they find the person who did this so my son can have justice and so he can have some peace," she said.
Public safety reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at ABSolomon@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Mother of Hope Mills man killed in hit-and-run still hoping for justice
