JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A teenager with down syndrome was struck and killed while walking on I-95 late Thursday night on Jacksonville’s Northside near Dunn Avenue.
His mother says he couldn't have gotten there on his own, and she wants the person who took him there held accountable.
“Wonderful child. Never met a stranger, so if he saw you, the first thing he’d say was, ‘Hi,’ then if you engaged him, he’d come in for the hug," said Terrellyn Simmons about her son, Tyrell.
Tyrell had just turned 19 last month and Simmons says everyone knew him for his big smile.
“Everybody loved him because he was just a lovable kid," said Simmons. "I think that cost him his demise.”
Simmons says Tyrell was diagnosed with Down Syndrome and had the mental capacity of a 7-year-old.
She helped him clean up for bed every night – something she did last Thursday.
Afterward, she went back to her room for her own nightly routine.
“When I got dressed and came out, I noticed he wasn’t in here, but that wasn’t a shocker to me because a lot of times he’ll go into my older son’s room," said Simmons.
About an hour later, she figured it was time for Tyrell to go to bed, but she still couldn’t find him.
“We all went, looking for him, and we couldn’t find him, so I did a missing persons report," said Simmons.
Shortly after midnight Florida Highway Patrol told her they found Tyrell – he’d been struck on I-95 just South of Clark Road, about two-and-a-half miles from their apartment at the Element.
Simmons says her son had gout, and wouldn’t have been able to walk that far on his own.
“Somebody had to have picked him up, and for whatever reason, dropped him off on that highway," said Simmons. "I don’t know what that reason is, that’s what I’m trying to find out.”
She says FHP is interviewing neighbors and looking for surveillance video to see who may have talked with Tyrell that night.
Simmons feels for the driver who hit her son, because she stayed at the scene until he took his last breath.
“I thank her for staying there with him because I wasn’t there with him," said Simmons. "If I could meet her, I would give her a big hug and I would thank her for being there for my son because I couldn’t be there for him."
She’s hoping someone comes forward with information on how Tyrell got there – not only for her, but for the driver and the trauma she’s going through.
“It’s not her fault," said Simmons. "He shouldn’t have been there.”
Simmons is asking anyone who saw Simmons on or near Hart Road that night to call Florida Highway Patrol at *FHP (*347).