ROANOKE, Va. – A 2-year-old boy is recovering from injuries after being struck in a hit-and-run incident in Roanoke’s Melrose Rugby community, where residents have long voiced concerns about speeding vehicles.
The incident occurred on Rugby Avenue when Kyrie McDougal was sitting on his grandmother’s parked car after returning from a church event. Witnesses reported that a black Audi with tinted windows and no headlights struck the child before fleeing the scene.
Roanoke Police say witnesses described the suspect vehicle as a black Audi sedan with silver trim around the windows, and a license plate beginning with SZ and containing two 8s in the number.
“I heard a boom, like a big loud boom, from the side of me, and I just thought that he hit my grandmother’s car,” said Taezania McDougal, the child’s aunt. “I looked over and I see my nephew balled up in a ball under the other car. So I immediately started screaming and I ran and I drug him from under the car, and I ran him into the house of my mother as fast as I could.”
According to family members, the driver briefly stopped, denied hitting the child, and drove away while shouting expletives. While witnesses were able to see the driver’s face, they only caught a partial license plate number.
Kyrie was rushed to the hospital, where he received stitches and was diagnosed with a minor hip fracture. Family members report he has been tired and limping since the incident.
“I was more angry because of the simple fact that he wasn’t in the road and he wasn’t unsupervised,” said Kiya McDougal, Kyrie’s mother. “He was being watched the whole time. He wasn’t by himself. He wasn’t doing anything that a normal kid wouldn’t be doing.”
The incident has highlighted longstanding safety concerns in the neighborhood.
“We’ve been complaining about people speeding down that road for like a few years now because there’s a lot of kids on the block,” Kiya McDougal added.
Roanoke City Police are actively investigating the incident and searching for the driver. This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Roanoke Police Department at (540) 344-8500.
The family has also turned to social media for assistance in identifying the vehicle, though no leads have emerged yet.