KEIZER, Ore. (KOIN) — Everywhere Lynda Hunter goes, something reminds her of her son — a song on the radio, the beach, people who knew him.
“And I’ll just start crying for no reason.”
Daniel Ramsey lived in Scotts Mills and was working as a mechanic in Canby. But he was in Portland to visit his girlfriend, Darian Conley, when they decided to get a bite to eat around 10 p.m. on November 26. They were trying to cross North Fessenden Street at Alma Avenue when a speeding car came out of nowhere.
Days after the hit-and-run killed Ramsey, Conley told KOIN 6 News they looked both ways before crossing the street and as soon as they started to walk, a car was no more than 15 feet away from them.
“I look to my left and there was a car about 10 to 15 feet and the headlights were there and that was it,” Conley said at that time.
“She was right there when it happened. They were walking hand-in-hand,” Hunter said. “She was lucky she didn’t get killed, too. What stopped her was him saying, ‘Babe! Stop!’ He got hit and she didn’t. He saved her life. In my eyes he’s a hero and I think that in her eyes he is, too.”
The 24-year-old died at the scene despite people who rushed to help him with CPR.
The driver of the car — believed to be a dark-colored BMW 5 series sedan from 2000 to 2003 — took off. The car likely had hood and windshield damage.
“I’m still really down in the dumps,” Hunter told KOIN 6 News Monday. Her son was “one of those kinds of people that people remember, respect, and it’s hard because there are constant reminders.”
She said the last month-and-a-half has been heartbreaking and overwhelming for both the family and for his girlfriend, especially since the driver remains at large.
“Why do you have to let these people, my family and her family and everybody else, suffer like this?” Hunter said, who lives in Sheridan.
She said she’s frustrated angry and “going through some depression,” and added her son’s girlfriend is also having a tough time.
Someone has to know something, she believes, and wants the driver “to turn themselves in.”
“It’s really senseless,” she said, exhaling deeply. “Just need some closure.”
Crime Stoppers of Oregon is offering a reward for information in the case. Surveillance video of the crash was released shortly after it happened.