Mother of Fair Bluff hit & run victim speaks out

FAIRMONT, NC (WWAY) — Early Sunday morning, state troopers found 35-year-old Jarrell McMillian dead in the road on Elm Street in the town of Fair Bluff.

The Highway Patrol said he had injuries consistent with being hit by a vehicle, but no witnesses were there.

McMillian was the youngest of 5 children and lived with his grandmother in Fair Bluff.

His mother, Kimberly Nealy, said Jarrell had his issues, but was a hard worker who cared about his friends and family.

“He drank a lot, he was crazy but he didn’t have a mean bone in his body,” Nealy said. “He’d do anything for you, even give the shirt off his back, he just had a drinking problem but he was a good-hearted person.”

While the North Carolina Highway Patrol is still investigating, Nealy said she’s heard a few stories about what might have happened.

“He was at a party, got in an argument, they sent him, told him he had to leave,” Nealy said. “He walked down the road going home, some other guy said he was going to pick him because he was drinking, he didn’t want him to walk home. And he was going down the road and some guy in a truck ran past him, cut him off and ran over my son. No one ever wants to know that their child was ran over.”

Nealy said she hopes the person who hit her son and those who were witnesses to the incident do what is right.

“That I’m not angry with you anymore but stop being a coward and turn yourself in, That’s what I would say to him. They should tell who it was, everything they saw, everything they heard. And stop sharing that picture of my baby cause they took pictures of him when he was laying on the ground dead, they took pictures of my baby and they shared that picture.”

If you know anything about the accident, contact the State Highway Patrol.