WEST VALLEY CITY — Frustration is mounting for the family of 22-year old Terron "Demi" Hooper, who was killed in a hit and run crash in West Wendover.
"It's been left up to me and my daughter and my son's father to find out who killed my son," said Demi's mother, Shasta Hooper.
Since her son's death over Labor Day weekend, Hooper has not talked publicly about the case. But frustration with the police investigation has prompted her to speak out.
"He was my world. He was my everything," Hooper said, breaking down.
She held up a poster she made with her son's picture and the question in bold, black letters: "Who killed my son?" It's a question that haunts her every day.
"I pray that no parent has to go through what I've been through," Hooper said.
On Sept. 3, she took her son to catch a bus to Wendover. It was his 22nd birthday.
"He got out and he came around to the side of my truck and he told me he loved me," she recalled.
She had no idea that was the last time she'd see him alive.
Around 2 a.m. on Sept. 4, a cab driver found Demi's body at the intersection of Wells Avenue and Wendover Boulevard. He had been hit by a car that never stopped. Police have yet to find the driver.
Shasta Hooper said that makes the tragedy much more difficult to bear.
"That my son didn't have a value on his life. That they left him like trash in the road, like he didn't matter," she said.
Shasta Hooper believes West Wendover police have not done enough to find the driver who killed her son.
"I've been told it's basically a cold case — no leads, no skid marks, no paint, no anything," she said.
But West Wendover Police Sgt. David Wiskerchen says it's still an active investigation and they're re-evaluating the case for any new leads. Shortly after the hit and run, tips led them to search a vehicle but nothing was found.
Investigators, he said, are equally frustrated because it's a difficult case — and they're relying on the public's help.
Hooper says she's not giving up hope, even if it means searching for answers until the day she dies. She insists, however, that she doesn't have hate, only forgiveness for the driver.
She believes she'll get justice for her son, even if it only comes from inner peace.
"If I never have answers, at least I know my son is happy and he's free," Hooper said.
The family can't afford a funeral for Demi. On Nov. 5, they will have a car wash to raise the last $1,000 needed to pay for his cremation. The car wash will be held at the Smith's parking lot, 4700 S. 4000 West, beginning at 10 a.m.
e-mail: syi@desnews.com