ARLINGTON, Texas — An Arlington family is grieving the loss of a loved one while desperately searching for the person responsible for his death.
Roy Smith was a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. On Saturday he was out for a short walk checking his mail when a vehicle hit him and killed him. The driver fled the scene.
“Everyone is devastated,” Roy’s daughter Sylvia Smith said. “And so my family is really, really going through a tragedy right now just because of the way that he was killed.”
Sylvia said the walk was something he enjoyed, especially in a pandemic when other activities were so limited.
“When the weather is nice like it is now, that’s what he would do,” Sylvia said. “Come out, take a little walk and come back in.”
Arlington police released a few photos of a two-tone Chevy Silverado that cameras captured driving erratically seconds after Roy was hit. Police are searching for the driver and urge that person to come forward.
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“That truck is somehow involved in this case; we just don’t know what level of involvement,” Arlington Police Lieutenant Christopher Cook said. “If the person sees this they just need to come forward, they just need to come clean and say ‘Yeah, I was involved’ and present their side of events of what happened that particular day.”
Here’s a description of the vehicle from Arlington police:
“It’s a felony in Texas when you cause serious injury or death to an individual and you flee the scene,” Cook said. “This is a very serious case.”
The Smith family has a message for the person responsible.
“We just want you to turn yourself in, we want you to do the right thing and turn yourself in,” Sylvia said. “Put yourself in my shoes, if that was you, if that was your mother, your father, your grandfather, or maybe even your kid.
“Whoever did this knows what they’ve done because there is no way that you could hit someone and not know that you hit someone."
Arlington police ask anyone who may know anything to contact Detective Shipp at 817-575-8602 or 817-469-TIPS.
The family is hopeful closure will come soon.
“I know he’s in a better place now, I know he’s looking down on us saying ‘Thank you’ because we’re going to get justice for him,” Sylvia added.