KTLA

Police search for driver in fatal hit-and-run in Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area

A man was killed in a hit-and-run in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area Friday morning, and the Los Angeles Police Department is looking for the driver who failed to stop and help.

At about 1:30 a.m., a driver headed north on La Cienega Boulevard hit a man who was in the crosswalk at Obama Boulevard, police said in a news release.


Police said detectives are investigating how the man, who was “lying down in the roadway in the north crosswalk,” ended up in the street, as well as how many vehicles may have struck the man.

The man, who was pronounced dead at the scene by the Los Angeles Fire Department, was identified by his family as 32-year-old Joshua Brown.

Brown’s mother, Jo Cie Johnson, said Saturday that she hopes the driver is caught and “pays for the crime he committed so violently on my son” that the funeral will require a closed casket.

“I want you to know that you are a murderer, and I hope they catch you and blast you to hell and back,” she said.

Johnson leaves behind a 1-year-old son and a grieving fiancée.

Anyone with information about this collision is asked to contact Officer Chavarria or Detective Moreno at 323-421-2500 during normal business hours. On nights and weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).

Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).