Hit-and-run victim remembered
Vigil held as suspect sought
As a steady stream of cars sped along W. Greenfield Ave. on Thursday evening, Ald. Chantia Lewis decried the senselessness of a hitand-run accident that killed Phillip Franklin last week.
Milwaukee police continue to look for suspects in the crash that killed Franklin, 47. The accident involved a stolen Audi that struck Franklin’s vehicle.
Franklin’s death comes as the Common Council has made a push recently to stop hazardous driving in the city. Council members have asked for more state aid for traffic enforcement.
And last month, underscoring the city’s problem with carjackings and reckless driving, a majority of the council asked Chief Edward Flynn to reprioritize traffic enforcement and revamp the department’s pursuit policy.
At the time of the council’s request, eight city residents had been killed by hit-and-run drivers in 2017.
Franklin, the father of four children, would have been 48 on Thursday.
A group of about 75 friends and family members of Franklin’s held a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m., at S. 13th St. and W. Greenfield Ave., where Franklin was killed.
Franklin died May 10 after he was struck by a car while making a left turn onto W. Greenfield Ave. on the city’s south side.
The crash caused a fire, and the driver of the stolen car and two passengers fled on foot.
Franklin died at the scene.
Milwaukee police say the Audi had been stolen a day before on the south side.
“We need to catch the people responsible for this so that this family can begin to heal to put closure to this tragic, senseless act,” said Lewis, who is also a cousin of Franklin.
“We are asking you. We are begging you. You might be a neighbor. You might be a friend. This nosnitch policy has got to end.”
As the crowd filled the sidewalk, people shouted out remembrances of Franklin, who was the father of two boys and two girls.
One of his daughters, Azariah Franklin, 18, just finished her freshman year at Iowa State University. When she was at school, she would get a text message from her father every day, telling her “good morning princess.”
She was home in Milwaukee at the time of the accident.
“The fact that someone took him away from me, it hurts,” she said.
“He always had my back. He supported me. Sometimes he could be annoying,” she said with a smile. “But that is what I am going to miss — having that annoying dad.”