DETROIT (WXYZ) — Two of the three victims in a violent hit-and-run on Detroit’s west side are now home from the hospital, with a plea for help in finding the person responsible.
Twenty-five-year-old Karti-A Carter and her mother Narnika were hit by a car on Nov. 25 around 5:30 p.m. near the corner of Schoolcraft and Rutland.
Detroit police say they are still looking for the driver of a Black Cadillac DTS from around the year 2006 to 2013. The car had damage to the front end even before the incident, according to the Detroit Police Department.
“I can't walk, I can't take care of my daughter, I can't use the bathroom by myself — and it's not fair. They didn't deserve that," Karti-A Carter said. "My mamma didn't deserve it, her friend did not deserve it.”
Now home from the hospital, life isn’t the same for Karti-A and Narnika Carter after being violently hit by a car that never stopped.
“I understand mistakes happen, but my life mattered and they left me there like it didn't,” Karti-A Carter said.
Karti-A Carter, her mother and a friend went to play bingo, parking on Schoolcraft near Rutland. When they got out of their car, a Black Cadillac DTS flew by and hit them before backing up, hitting them again and taking off.
“It went backward trying to clear space to get around, but it didn't go around — it went over us again,” Karti-A Carter said.
Karti-A Carter tore ligaments in her knee and broke a femur and multiple ribs, which then punctured her lung. Her mother broke bones in her leg and pelvis and her head was split open. Her friend and coworker that was with them is still in a coma.
“I just remember being on the ground and my daughter saying, 'mommy, mommy, mommy,'” Narnika Carter recalled. "I was like, 'I'm right here.' And I tried to get up, but I heard a man say, 'Don't move. Your head is wide open.'"
Even after having brain surgery, Narnika still remembers parts of that night, which came just a month after her husband and Karti-A’s father Tez Carter died.
“I just laid there and I prayed and I asked God to keep me here for my kids and my grandkids and my family. Because we had just lost my husband and I don't want to leave them yet,” Narnika Carter said.
They’re here today in part because of two brothers who heard the crash and ran to help, blocking traffic and staying with the women until help arrived.
“I could hear their voices the whole time," Karti-A Carter said. "I just want to say thank you to them because without y'all, they wouldn't have seen us in the street and we wouldn't be here.”
“If it weren't for those two guys, no telling what would've happened," Narnika Carter said. "They were our angels that night.”
While they stopped, that driver never did. With no one in custody, the Carters hope someone, if the not the driver, comes forward.
“As a human being, as a mother, a daughter, a sister, a brother, it could've been you, and you would want somebody to say something," Karti-A Carter said. "You would want justice for your family. Please, say something. Please speak up because nothing about this was fair.”
If you recognize the car or know anything, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. The family has launched a GoFundMe account for medical care and are in need of a hospital bed for their home.
