NewsLocal News

Actions

Family of young hit and run victim asks for public's help solving the case in Lehigh Acres

Posted at 11:51 PM, Oct 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-24 06:39:47-04

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — The family of a young hit and run victim is asking for your help in solving the case.

It's been 2 years since Kee Kee Shanks was struck and killed by a driver on Southwest 40th Street in Lehigh Acres.

It happened on the night October 21st 2017.

According to SWFL Crime Stoppers, a bicyclist found Kee Kee's body along side the road the next day.

"That's the part that really hurts me - how she was just left on the side of the road," says Kee Kee's brother, Stan Shanks.

"She was my baby and she's gone," says Kee Kee's mother, Eula. "This is the hardest thing for me. I can't even imagine what she was going through laying on the side of the road," says Eula.

"I don't know how they could just leave here there in the dark," she adds.

"That hurts me to do this day - knowing she died that way" says Kee Kee's brother Stan. "She wasn't supposed to die that way."

"It was very senseless what that person did," he says of the driver.

"I couldn't believe that someone could hit my sister and leave her on the side the road and not stop or anything," says Kee Kee's sister Shanah. "I can't understand why they didn't stop."

Trish Route, with SWFL Crime Stoppers, says some leads were generated shortly after the crash, but none has led an arrest.

Kee Kee's family says they're still holding out hope that the driver - or someone close to the driver - will listen to their conscience and contact authorities.

"We just want justice for our sister," says Kee Kee's sister, Tiana Anda. "She deserves to rest in peace."

Not knowing what happened that night has deepened the family's pain as they live life without Kee Kee.

"I miss her my sister," says Shanah Larry. "It's hard."

"You lose sleep, you're not the same anymore, you get depressed," she says.

"But we gonna keep going," says Kee Kee's mom Eula. "We feel we're going to get justice.”

"Somebody is going to come forward and claim the reward money," she adds.

Eula also shared some heartfelt words for the driver. "I forgive you," she says. "I can't get through my life without forgiving you. "

"So just come forward," she says. "We're all human beings."

The family says learning the identity of the driver and hearing that's person recollection of what happened could actually help in their healing process.

"So we have a little comfort of knowing," says Shanah.

RELATED: INVESTIGATORS STILL SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS IN 2017 FATAL HIT AND RUN IN LEHIGH ACRES

The family says it's been especially difficult for the children in the family who loved their Aunt Kee Kee. "It's not easy to explaining to your nieces and nephews, when they bring it up, that she's not coming back," says Tiana.

Eula says one of the little girls in the family is living with autism. "What makes it so hard is that everyday my granddaughter...asks about Kee Kee," she says.
"Every day."

Kee Kee's brother Stan says he tries to remain hopeful in his sister's honor. "She wouldn't want us to be down on ourselves," he says. "That's not who she was."

"She would want us to keep being better for ourselves and keep being great."

If you have information about what happened on SW 40th Street in Lehigh Acres on the night of October 21st, you don't have give your name and you could get a reward of up to $3,000 when you share your tip anonymously at SWFL Crime Stoppers.

You can also call 800-780-TIPS or use the P3 Tips app to text anonymously.