Dallas

Family of Hit-and-Run Victim Plead for Driver to Come Forward

Victim's family arrives from Houston seeking justice for uncle

The family of a Dallas movie critic killed in a hit-and-run crash Friday night is making a desperate plea for the driver to come forward.

Gary Murray was walking in a crosswalk at U.S. 75 and Mockingbird Lane when he was struck and killed by a truck driver. The driver paused briefly, witnesses said, but then sped off.

Murray was leaving the International Film Festival at the Angelika Theatre.

His parents, brother and two nieces all live in Houston. Tuesday afternoon, Murray's two nieces made the drive to Dallas to help clean his apartment; get an update from a police detective; and also to make a personal plea to the driver.

"I would just say turn yourself in. It's going to eat you up inside and you're not going to be able to hide this anymore," said Macy Murray, Gary's niece.

Tuesday, Macy saw the Angelika Theatre for the first time. It's where her uncle spent his last night on earth, watching and reviewing moves from around the world.

"There's a peace being here now, but also I'm more angry than anything because of the circumstances," Macy Murray said.

Macy Murray spoke with her uncle weekly and said he'd travel to Houston for holidays.

"Gary was this child-like personality, had a big love for family and love for film," she said. "When he walked into a room, he lit it up."

"He was a guy that would give you the shirt off his back. He was the nicest, most caring person I've ever known," said best friend Don Ford, who always was at the film festival Friday night.

"If something ever happened to you, he's the guy that would call you the next day and say, 'Hey are you OK?'" he added.

Family members also got an update from a police detective Tuesday morning. They said police have reviewed surveillance cameras from the area, but the street lighting is poor and officers can't get a good read on the make or model of the truck.

Witnesses said it was a white truck -- but beyond that police don't have much to go on.

"For us to heal and for us to forgive, we need to know who that person is," said niece Samantha Murray. "I can’t imagine going your whole life and knowing you’re not going to come forward with this news, that you killed someone."

Dallas police are asking other businesses further down Mockingbird Lane to see if they have any surveillance video that may have a better view of a fleeing white truck around the time of the hit-and-run.

The City of Dallas is building a pedestrian bridge in that area to make it safer for pedestrian crossings.

"I've only been here a few hours, but I crossed in that intersection and I can see just how dangerous it is," said Samantha Murray. "Even if you have the right-of-way the cars don't stop, or they barely stop."

The pedestrian bridge project was approved several years ago and it was originally supposed to be completed last year. But because of delays, heavy construction on the bridge hasn't even started yet.

It's now not scheduled to be completed until next spring -- maybe by the end of April.

"This should have been done a lot, lot sooner. It needs to be done. Something needs to be put in place soon," Samantha Murray said. "It’s unfortunate that my uncle lost his life, but maybe this is a stepping stone, so somebody else won’t lose a family member and have to go through this."

The Murray family wants to prevent another tragedy; while they also pray for justice -- to help solve their own.

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