MODESTO, Calif. — A Modesto area mother said her son was left to die alone after he was hit by a vehicle along McHenry Avenue.
Modesto Police Department identified the man as 23-year-old Dakota Stockton, of Modesto. He was the victim in a hit-and-run crash at McHenry and Standiford avenues on July 6. Stockton was declared dead at the scene.
Few details were released surrounding what happened, and police had no new information to release Tuesday afternoon, nearly a week after his death.
"I just want people to understand that he was an actual person. He's not just some hit and run fatality statement, and he's an actual person and he was left there to die alone," Diana Stockton, Dakota's mother told ABC10.
Diana described her son as a loving and caring soul, who immensely cared about his family.
"He was a little lost on who he was going to be when he grew up... but he was trying to figure that all out, and he was a very caring person," Diana said.
Dakota also loved to dance, listen to music and loved to be around his family.
"He liked to take his niece down to Rite Aid and buy her a bunch of junk food and hang out with her and watch children's movies with her. And he was just a very loving soul that like to just be with his people, his family, his friends, his brother," Diana said.
It took two days after her son was killed before Diana was formally told, but she said her mother's intuition led her to believe that something was wrong the day after it happened.
"I actually... woke up and felt like something was not going to be OK or something. I don't know. I just I spent the whole day looking for Dakota. I never found him," Diana said.
On Thursday, she saw a post on Facebook about a hit-and-run and had a "gut-feeling" that it was her son. Police in Escalon, where she lives, officially told her on Friday. The news left the family devastated.
"We're a mess. We really are like we're a very close-knit family. He has four siblings, we often try to get together and do things together... and this is a tragedy for our family," Diana said.
Her desire to see justice for her son has kept her holding strong, even providing some respite from grief as she mourns.
"Most of the day (I'm) trying to find justice for my son, and it kind of keeps the grief away for a second. And then the moment that I sit down and have a moment to myself, I want to hug my son and kiss him and know that he's OK," she said.
She's calling on whoever is responsible to come forward and do the right thing.
"I want people to realize that he's somebody. He was loved. He's a person. He had a whole life ahead of him, and he deserved to be treated with respect and dignity," Diana said.
Any witnesses to the hit-and-run can contact Traffic Officer Olson at OlsonR@ModestoPD.com or call Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636.
A GoFundMe for the family is available HERE.
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