Candlelight Vigil Held For Man Killed By Motorist, Tyrone Austin
A family wants answers after their loved one was killed in what police are now calling a traffic fatality.
On Saturday, 48-year-old Wilfred Tyrone Austin was pronounced dead on the scene after he was hit by a car.
Lashunda Graham says she didn’t believe when a friend called to tell her that her father had been hit by a car, until she saw him lying motionless in the street.
“He told me my dad just got killed,” she says of a friend who called to tell her the news. “I hung up the phone. I got out here and he was laying down dead right there.”
Her father, 48-year-old Wilfred Tyrone Austin, was struck by a car and pronounced dead on the scene. Friends and family held a vigil Thursday night, to remember the man many in the neighborhood called “uncle.”
“You ain’t finna catch nobody around here talking bad about Tyrone,” says friend Aaryn Jordan. “We call him uncle.”
Although Austin was viewed as an uncle by some, he was also a son, a brother, and a father. His twin sons tell us they’re having a hard time coping and say because the driver of the car has not been charged, they don’t believe justice has not been served.
“We’re here still hurting because we haven’t got any justice and it’s Christmas,” says Antwone Porter. “New Years is coming.”
“That wasn’t like no regular accident,” says son Demone Porter. “That makes people think they can’t walk in the street anymore if you’re going to do him like that.”
Austin’s loved ones believe the driver was fleeing a shooting and point to bullet markings on the ground close to where the incident took place. Montgomery Police are investigating but have not yet confirmed that a shooting occured. Austin’s brother L.J. says he just wants to know the truth.
“I just pray that justice will be done,” he says. “If it was an accident, then an investigation needs to be done to say it was an accident. If it was malicious, justice should be done.”
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