Mother of Rock Island hit-and-run victim seeks community’s help

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) A Rock Island mother is looking for the person she says struck her son with a car and fled the scene on Sunday night.

6-year-old Jonas Keel is seen playing on his bike outside of his home mere seconds before the car hit him.

On the video, a dark colored four door sedan can be seen speeding down the street while Jonas rides out of an alley way. There is a huge crashing sound, then screaming can be heard.

Rock Island police told TV6 that witnesses said the black or silver car was speeding in the 2300 block of 20th Avenue when the child was struck. They confirmed the car kept on going.

“They hit him and they left him for dead,” said his mother, Danielle Keel who says she was grabbing her sunglasses from her car at the time the accident happened.

Jonas is now temporarily wheelchair bound after being in a Rockford Intensive Care Unit for two days.

“He had an open fracture of his Tibia in his right leg, they said it broke in a few different places,” said Keel, “he had a skull fracture with a subdermal hematoma that didn’t require surgery.”

Keel says she was just a few feet away when the accident happened, yet when she ran to find her son bleeding in the grass the car had already fled.

She says her daughter watched as Jonas flew from the street to the curbside in the grass. “He was hunched over in front of [the] trash can in the grass,” said Keel, “I picked him up immediately then realized his leg was bleeding. His right leg, then I moved my hand from his head and there was blood all over my hand.”

When asking Jonas what happened, he replied, “the car broke my leg and I landed in the grass with my broken leg.”

While she’s thankful he is going to be ok, Keel says she wants the person responsible to be held accountable. “I know that they saw him. He could’ve died and they just left him...they just drove off,” Keel exclaimed, “It’s one thing accidentally hit somebody, but to just leave him. He’s a child!”

Keel says Jonas, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder, is having trouble coping with what happened. “the first night trying to fall asleep he kept jolting awake and saying. ‘I keep having dreams of the car, mom,’” Keel said, “when we drove home every black car he saw he said, ‘is that the black car that hit me?’”

Keel and the Rock Island Police are asking the community to help them identify the car and person.

The Rock Island Police Department said it is preparing some video and still pictures of the car to help identify it.

Below: car that hit Jonas Keel

Anyone who has information is asked to call them at 309-732-2677.

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