Family hails teen hit by car, killed as hero
COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Family says a 14-year-old pushed his girlfriend out of the way, saving her life, before he was hit by a car and killed.
“He stepped up and he did an amazing thing,” Tristan Billman’s mother Abbigail Allen told News 8. “He was a hero. I just want everybody to know that.”
The crash happened around 5:30 a.m. Friday when Tristan and his girlfriend were walking on N. Riverview Drive north of Van Buren Street in Cooper Township, north of Kalamazoo.
“What had happened is they were getting ready to cross the street and Tristan saw the car and (his girlfriend) didn’t,” Allen said. “She was in front of him. He was behind her. She said she heard Tristan say, ‘Destiny, move.’ And all of sudden, she got pushed.”
Allen said her son had left home without telling her to see his girlfriend. She said she called police when she realized he was gone, but it was too late.
“Clearly, we didn’t find them,” Allen said.
The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office has not released information about whether citations were issued or if any charges will be pursued against the driver.
“I want drivers to be aware of people walking at night and the conditions of the roads and the speed limits,” his great-grandmother, Leta Billman, said.
Allen described her son as an old soul. She said he loved Michael Jackson, Spider-Man and Sonic the Hedgehog and had a YouTube channel.
“He loved everybody. A lot of his friends said he brought light to a dark room. His smile was contagious. He was contagious,” Allen said. “I don’t know how to wake up and keep going.”
“Tristan and I spend a lot of time together,” his great-grandmother recalled. “He’d bop in and say, ‘Hey, Grandma, I’m here. Can you make me a hamburger?’ He was a crystal child.”
A GoFundMe account has been started to help the family cover funeral costs.
They were already grieving before Tristan’s death: Three months ago, his grandfather died after being hit by a car while driving his motorcycle.
Tristan was a freshman at Comstock High School.
“(O)ur students and staff who knew Tristan are devastated,” Comstock Public Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Thoenes wrote in a Saturday letter to district families.
The superintendent said the district would implement a five-day response plan to offer emotional support and grief counseling starting Jan. 8, when students return from winter recess.
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