DETROIT (WXYZ) — Jenna Blackwell still gets chills when her phone rings.
The call that changed her life came Sunday, May 24, when her father, Robert Blackwell, was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash in Southwest Detroit.
Watch Randy Wimbley's video report:
"My aunt called me as soon as I woke up, she called me, and she said, ' It's about your dad," Jenna said. "I was like, I already, I already know, I already know he's gone."
According to Detroit police, Robert Blackwell, 47, was riding his bike eastbound on Vernor around 8:50 that Sunday night when a suspect driver, also headed eastbound, struck him and a parked car. The driver never stopped.
Surveillance video captured the aftermath of the crash. It appears to show Blackwell riding in the designated bike lane at the time of the collision.
WEB EXTRA: Surveillance video of hit-and-run involving person on bike
Blackwell was rushed to Henry Ford Hospital in critical condition.
"He had a lot of swelling in his brain. He had one reflex the day that I went up there, and that was his coughing, and the next day it was just gone," Jenna said.
Blackwell died after being taken off life support May 28. His heart, liver, kidneys, and pancreas were donated to patients in need.
"It feels amazing because I knew that's what he would have wanted," Jenna said.
Now, a tattoo Jenna shared with her father, along with a few of his personal belongings and treasured memories, are all she has left of him.
"This, it means a whole lot to me," she said.
Jenna remembered her father as a devoted and generous man.
"He would always take me sledding when I was little. He would always put me first," she said.
"He was such a loving, caring guy. He would give you the shirt off his back if he could," Jenna said.
Her message to the suspected hit-and-run driver is direct.
"All actions have consequences. I was always taught that," Jenna said.
"Now this driver has to face them?" Wimbley asked.
"Yes, he does. And he will," Jenna responded.
As days pass without an arrest, Jenna said she worries the person responsible will never be brought to justice.
"I keep asking myself how people can live with doing that. If he did know that he ended up dying because of it, I don't know how he can still live with that," she said.
Anyone with information about the driver involved in this hit-and-run is asked to call Detroit police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. Callers can remain anonymous.
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