Photo via Elliot’s GoFundMe page
A group has launched a fundraising page for the funeral and burial costs of a 23-year-old cyclist who was killed in a hit and run crash in Southeast last month. D.C. Police identified Jerrell Robert Elliot days after the incident and are still searching for the driver of the car.
A ghost bike now marks the spot on the 2600 block of Minnesota Ave where he was struck and killed on July 23 around 1:10 a.m. Elliot graduated from the D.C. Public School system and attended college, according to a GoFundMe page, which has $848 in contributions. As a child, he was a member of the Young Marines, the Fort Dupont Ice Arena’s youth team, and the D.C. Police Teen Jr. Police Academy.
Elliot was a homebody and would never stay out late, Joy Elliot told NBC 4 about her nephew. So when days passed and family members hadn’t heard from him, they placed a missing persons report. That’s when police made the connection and identified Elliot as the victim. “He was a wonderful person,” his aunt continued. “He loved his family, he loved his community.”
The suspect was driving a gray colored vehicle, possibly a Volvo, according to a release from D.C. Police. “We’re looking for anyone who may have seen anything—either leading up to the actual crash or even after the crash,” D.C. police officer Robert Wilkins told NBC 4.
“Our family will never ever be the same,” the victim’s aunt said. “We just need some answers and we need some closure to this.”