‘There are so many questions about why Nigel died’

A DEVASTATED fiancée has begged for information about how her “kind, funny, heartwarming” partner was killed.

Nigel Yue Bun Li, 32, from Ponteland, Northumberland, died on Thursday, January 3, after getting out of his car amid a “dispute” with the driver of a white Ford Transit van.

Mr Li, a fibreglass finisher, had been on his way to work in Wallsend when he pulled up after being involved in a “minor collision”.

Police believe an altercation began in a lay-by on the A19 where both drivers had stopped.

At the time of the collision, Mr Li was on the main carriageway, where he was hit by a black Volkswagen.

Police have asked anyone who witnessed the incident, at around 7.40am, on the A19 southbound between Seaton Burn and Moor Farm roundabout, or who has dashcam footage, to contact them.

Kirsty Dane, 30, had been dating Nigel for around five years, having met him while they were both studying in the automobile centre at Gateshead College.

The pair, who lived in Ponteland, had been set to marry in Orlando, Florida, in September this year, surrounded by close friends and family.

Instead, Kirsty has found herself pleading for information about why the man she had hoped to spend the rest of her life with died.

She said: “At the moment we’ve got so many unanswered questions and we feel like we can’t 100% grieve because we are still yet to know actually what happened to him.”

She asked anyone who could help to come forward “so that as a family we can move forward or at least attempt to”.

Remembering her fiancé, Kirsty described a “really kind, funny, heartwarming person”.

She said: “You’ll have seen what gets shared about him on social media.

“Everyone who meets him has a lot of good things to say about him, only good things to say about him.

“He does everything for everyone else before he does it for himself.”

Yet Mr Li, who had a passion for cars, never took life “too seriously”.

Kirsty added: “It’s all done with a smile.

“He’s forever winding me, the family, everyone up, trying to be as jovial as possible.

“He was just Nigel. It’s so hard to explain if you don’t know him but I can guarantee if you did he would just put an imprint in your mind.”

Holding the hand of the woman who should have soon become her sister-inlaw, Nigel’s sister Rachel Li spoke of her happy memories of her little brother on a recent family holiday, visiting relatives in Hong Kong.

“Those are the memories that we’ll have to cherish for ever,” she said.

The driver of the van, 37, was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and has since been released under investigation.

Police say inquiries into Mr Li’s death are ongoing, and anyone who can help investigators is asked to contact Northumbria Police on 101, quoting reference 507 03/01/19.