Aunts of man ‘hit like an animal in the street’ recall last minutes of his life
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Andre A. Smith died just before 1 a.m. Friday, and his family had rushed to the crime scene on East 82nd Street.
Many of his surviving family members saw his lifeless body trapped under a car, a memory that will haunt them forever. Court documents say a woman, now charged with murder, had tracked her boyfriend to a bar, where she hit him with a car three times.
His aunt, Reneka Day, said, “To be hit like an animal in the street. … I don’t want anybody to love me that hard if you got to take my life.”
Reneka and Sandra Day described for News 8 the last minutes of their nephew’s life.
Sandra said, “A lot of our nephews and cousins seen our loved one up underneath the car, crying for help as he was trying to raise his head up. She ran over him again. It is overwhelming.”
Reneka said, “And it replays every time I blink right now. It replays every time we have to talk about it, and when I’m asleep at night I can only imagine what my sister is feeling right now. I can only imagine. It is one thing to injure a person but to take a person’s life….”
Sandra said, “While they are yelling for help, ‘Help me,’ a young man and a young lady ran out of there and finally stopped her from continually going back and forth over his body.”
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says Smith and a female friend were inside Tilly’s Bar and Grill at the Clearwater Crossing plaza at 3948 E. 82nd St. Around midnight Thursday, Galyn Morris showed up and tried to start a fight. Police say Morris then attempted to hit Smith’s female companion with an empty wine bottle. The three were asked to leave the bar.
Smith went into the parking lot while his dinner date waited for her food to be prepared. Once Smith was outside and away from the building around 12:30 p.m. Friday, IMPD says, Morris hit him with a car three times.
Morris told police she had been tracking Smith with an AirTag GPS monitoring device.
Reneka said, “Those tracking devices should not be used by the public. They should not be available to the public. They should only be used for hospitals and law.”
Reneka and Sandra believe their nephew would still be alive had he detected the monitoring device. The family has not been told where the device was located.
For Smith’s survivors, some questions will never be fully answered. Sandra says the family and the witnesses will need counseling.
Sandra said, “We need to seek help, seek counseling. It’s OK to seek counseling. It’s OK to tell someone what’s going on so that way they can help us through the situation.”
Smith left behind a 4-year-old daughter, and numerous cousins, aunts and uncles. The family set up a GoFundMe page.