Deerfield man’s family asks for help solving hit-and-run
DEERFIELD BEACH — Richard Jones always looked out for his younger brother, Ken.
Now he’s asking the public to help catch the hit-and-run driver who killed Kenneth Jones, 53, and left him in the middle of Hillsboro Boulevard at about 1:35 a.m. on Sept. 26.
“My brother Ken was not just a local statistic, he’s a real person,” Jones said Friday. “Please help us find this person and help my brother rest in peace.”
Broward Sheriff ’s Deputy Dave Jaques said he found Jones’ body in the center lane of Hillsboro Boulevard a couple of blocks west of South Dixie Highway.
“It had just rained, so it was very dark,” he said. “I saw an object on the road, at which time I had to swerve. As I went around it, I realized it was a person.”
Investigators found clues at the scene that may help lead them to a suspect, including plastic pieces from a BMW 3 series, built between 2005 to 2010.
The vehicle likely has damage to its lower front driver’s side, said Keyla Concepcion, Broward Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.
“We have very little to go on, so we are asking drivers who drove through Hillsboro Road on Saturday to please come forward if they saw anything,” Concepcion said.
Those drivers include ones behind the wheels of a dark SUV and a dark sedan, which were spotted near the scene by the surveillance video of a nearby business. The video also shows a light-colored BMW, possibly the suspect’s car, Concepcion said.
Jones was hit while crossing Hillsboro Boulevard near Northwest Second Terrace, fewer than four miles from his brother’s home. He was not in a designated crosswalk, Concepcion said.
“Please, please help us find this vehicle,” Richard Jones said. “Maybe you saw a neighbors car that you noticed was banged up on the front end.”
One of four siblings, Ken as a “fun guy” with a dry sense of humor and a “love for the outdoors,” his brother said.
“We would go hunting, fishing, snorkeling,” he said. “He was my brother and my best friend.”
Richard Jones’ wife, Susan Mertins-Jones, dropped off her brother-in-law at a bait shop on the Friday before he was killed, as he was planning to go fishing with a friend.
Ken Jones also was looking forward to starting a new job that another friend had set up for him, she said.
“I wished him luck on this new phase in his life,” she said. “The last thing he told me was, ‘I love you’ and ‘God bless you’.”
Investigators urge anyone with information about the hit-run to call Detective Michael Wiley at 954-321-4840 or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.