Left inset: David Blanchard (WSB). Right inset: Khaleb Jackson (GoFundMe). Background: The area in Clayton County, Ga., where David Blanchard allegedly hit and killed Khaleb Jackson as he was crossing the street (WAGA).
A Georgia driver mowed down a 10-year-old boy who was crossing a street with his older brother and cousins then “kept going” — leaving him just steps away from a nearby hospital and forcing the kids to try to save him, family and cops say.
“His brother and his cousins, they tried, but they”re children,” Khaleb Jackson’s mother, Brandi Jackson, told local ABC affiliate WSB. “The car hit him and kept going.”
David Blanchard, 52, is charged with homicide by vehicle and hit-and-run after allegedly killing Khaleb on Sunday night in Clayton County. The boy was crossing the street at the intersection of Riverdale Road and Garden Walk Boulevard with his 14-year-old brother and two cousins, according to Khaleb’s family and police.
“You see this kind of stuff on TV, but then when it hits your family, you be like, how can somebody hit a child, any person, but especially a child, and leave that child just laying there not knowing whether or not the child is alive or, you know, gone,” Khaleb’s aunt, Belinda Pittmon, told local Fox affiliate WAGA.
A GoFundMe launched by the family says, “Our sweet boy Khaleb was … trying to get to the bus stop when a car came out of nowhere and struck and killed him.”
The family experienced another death earlier this year when Khaleb’s infant sister died of SIDS. Now they are forced to deal with the loss of Khaleb just days after Christmas.
“It’s been a tough year,” the GoFundMe explains. “His mother is devastated and heartbroken.”
Pittmon and Khaleb’s mother described the boy as being their “heart” and someone who was “just so appreciative,” according to the GoFundMe and interviews.
“I ran around Christmas trying to get him everything he wanted,” Pittmon said. “He basically wanted an iPhone. So I got him the iPhone. He called me and said, ‘Aunt Belinda thank you, thank you so much.'”
Khaleb’s mom added, “He would just walk in the room and just randomly start dancing.”
She condemned Blanchard for not stopping to try to bring Khaleb to Southern Regional Hospital, which is reportedly just steps away from where the alleged hit-and-run happened, while his own brother and cousins did their best to try and save him.
“Like you a grown … a grown person,” Jackson said. “How could you be so heartless?”
Blanchard was ordered held without bail this week and is awaiting his next court date.
