Justice Paused For Victim’s Family After OKC Fatal Hit And Run Suspect Fails To Appear In Court

It's been nearly a year since a woman was hit and killed by a motorcyclist near Southeast 44th and Eastern Avenue. On Tuesday, the man accused of hitting her is still nowhere to be found.

Court documents show 62-year-old Jeffery Allen Hill didn’t show up for his formal arraignment last week to face charges in a fatal hit-and-run accident. His victim’s family says it’s time for him to stop running. “He's forever altered our lives,” said the victim’s sister Julia Brodersen

Julia Brodersen says she can’t grieve the loss of her sister Kesia Godwin until the man charged in her death faces his charges. “I just want him to pay for what he has done to Kesia and to our family,” she said.

Her sister died on November 1, 2022, after being struck by a motorcycle near SW 44th and Eastern Avenue. According to police, the driver, Jeffery Hill, left the motorcycle and took off running. “Accidents happen yes but when you do what he did and you just keep going that becomes to me, in my opinion, that's no longer an accident,” Brodersen said.

A witness called 911. Godwin’s family says she died at the hospital. “She was a very, very beautiful person even at the worst time of her life, the last five years of her life she was still that beautiful person on the inside,” said Paula Farrell, Godwin’s mother.

Godwin’s family says she suffered from a drug addiction and was homeless at the time of the accident but trying to turn her life around. “She's not a throwaway person, no homeless person's a throwaway person they've got a family they've got people out there that love them,” Brodersen said.

Hill was later arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and causing an accident while driving without a valid driver’s license. However, court documents reveal he has a lengthy criminal past including multiple traffic and drug charges. He was due in court last week to face his current charges but didn’t show up. “People like that they don't know what it's like to really love somebody they don't know what it's like to have compassion or anything and I find that very sad,” said Farrell.

On Tuesday, a bench warrant was issued for Hill’s arrest.

“You've got a warrant, turn yourself in and pay for what you've done to not just my sister but to us as a family because Kesia deserves that justice,” Brodersen said.