Driver sought in deadly hit and run crash

Family and friends gathered at the corner of 18th Street and West Atkinson Avenue Sunday evening for a vigil to remember Rio Devone Washington.

His parents Margaret and Chester Washington are grieving their son's death.

\"I miss my baby”, said Margaret Washington. “I want my baby here.\"

\"Accidents happen”, said Chester Washington. “Just turn yourself in.\"

The son, husband, and father was sitting in the passenger seat of a 1997 Pontiac when struck by the driver in a 1999 Plymouth Breeze around 11 p.m. on Saturday, after the driver ran a stop sign, when the family in 1997 Pontiac was making a left turn on Atkinson Avenue.

Nancy Vergara told CBS 58 she aided to the family right after the crash.

\"We tried to get response to the guy but he was already dead, there was nothing we could do for him”, said Nancy Vergara. “But we did manage to get the baby out.\"

Witnesses say the Plymouth Breeze caught on fire.

\"So I went upstairs to grab the fire extinguisher to try to put this car out”, said Torrance Taylor. “But there wasn't enough to put it out.\"

Police say the driver in the Plymouth was speeding, and ran away from the scene after the crash.

Tyrone Dobbey lives in the neighborhood, and told CBS 58 he saw the suspect run away after the crash.

\"After the crash, I'd seen a gentleman that came off of Atkinson, and then he took off the direction towards Capital and he ran through and he pretty much disappeared out of sight”, said Torrance Dobbey. “He was a probably young African-American man, probably in his early 20's, and it was somewhat dark I didn't get a real good look at him.\"

The wife of the man killed, Shakita Washington was driving the Pontiac and did not suffer any life threatening injuries.

But right now, her infant son Rio Devone Washington Jr. is in bad shape according Victoria Crittendon, the cousin of the man killed.

\"He's at children's hospital right now and he's in critical condition”, said Victoria Crittendon. “It's touch and go right now. They don't know what's going to happen. He's on breathing machine.\"

Witnesses say police and EMS got to the scene within five minutes after the crash.

Anyone with information on the driver's whereabouts is asked to call Milwaukee Police at 414-935-7251.