'How could you leave him to die?' Family of cyclist killed in Stouffville hit and run pleads for answers
Moments after they wished one of their children a happy birthday and sent him off to school, Daunte Thompson-Bruce's parents learned their eldest son had been killed.
The 20-year-old was cycling southbound on 9th Line near Bethesda Road in Whitchurch-Stouffville when he was struck by a driver who fled the scene this week.
"Daunte was alive and breathing," his mother Felicia said at a news conference pleading for information about what happened to her son. "He couldn't help himself but he could have been helped."
To the motorist, she demanded, "How could you leave him to die?"
Police were called to the scene in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It was about 6 a.m. when a passerby saw a cyclist lying in the roadway.
Police believe Thompson-Bruce was struck sometime between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., but so far they have no information on a possible suspect, what type of vehicle was involved, or how long the cyclist suffered alone on the dark road before he died. It's a stretch of road that investigators say has no lighting.
Thompson-Bruce, his parents said, was a student at Seneca College, studying business administration and human resources. He had been looking for work over the summer to help pay for the next semester.
Outside of school, the 20-year-old's passion was track. "He always said it made him feel free," his mother said.
Whether he won or lost, he was always cheerful, his friend Majeed Zabsonre told CBC Toronto.
"He was always smiling. It's the one thing I will always remember, his smile," said his mother.
Police are now calling for anyone who may have been in the area at the time of the crash and anyone with dashcam footage to contact their major collision investigations unit at 1-866-876-5423 ex. 7704.
They say they believe the driver who struck Thompson-Bruce would have known that they hit someone and are urging that person to turn himself or herself in to police.
A post-mortem examination has yet to be completed.
For now, his parents say they are haunted by the lack of answers, and are consumed with anger.
"This is the greatest fear any parent could ever know. Your baby you nurtured through life, your baby who you had dreams and aspirations for is now alone and and not knowing if he would ever see his mom and dad, his two younger brothers and his sister again," his mother said.
"You took away a brother, a son, probably a father in the future," said his father, Dwayne. "You've robbed a family."
The family has launched a GoFundMe page to assist with the costs of burying their son.
