DUMFRIES, Va. — Jamel Tanner, a recent victim of a fatal pedestrian crash, spent the last couple of months of his life walking up and down Route 234, a busy highway also known as Dumfries Road, in order to get to work.
"He was on his way to his job at Mcdonald's right down the street on 234. He worked overnight when he was struck," said Terrice Tanner to WUSA9 in an interview from Toledo, Ohio.
Prince William County Police said that on Oct. 28, a person driving a Hyundai Sonata was exiting the interstate at Dumfries Road when he struck Jamel who was walking on the road at around 9:45 p.m. Investigators said Jemel was wearing dark-colored clothing; his sister says it was his work uniform.
The driver involved in Jemel's death stayed on the scene. The case is still under investigation by Prince William County Police.
"We always said it wasn't safe for him to walk but that was [the] only means of transportation because he didn't have a vehicle," said Terrice.
Jamel was working on getting his own place according to his sister, "He got the second job so he wouldn't have to sleep on the street anymore." Terrice said she and her two brothers were homeless this year after losing their grandmother's Woodbridge home. The family was forced to stay at extended-stay hotels along the corridor.
Terrice is using her family's pain to create change along Route 234. She has created a petition to seek the Virginia Department of Transportation to consider enhanced safety measures along Dumfries Road that she says could have saved her brother's life.
"Where he was walking from the EconoLodge to the McDonald's doesn't have any crosswalks, any sidewalks or lights for pedestrians," said Terrice
WUSA9 was able to capture several pedestrians that are forced to walk into the roadway because of the lack of sidewalks in the area.
The Tanner family has created a GoFundMe Page to give Jamel a proper burial.
This morning's crash happened in an area notorious for accidents - Seven Corners in Fairfax County.
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