A Jersey City family is outraged after the drivers who struck and killed an 8-year old boy posted about the accident on Facebook.
Eight-year-old Maine Woodward Jr. was struck and killed on the street in front of his home on Bostwick Avenue in June. The two drivers who struck him were given tickets, but the family feels that's not enough, especially after reading their Facebook posts, which were brought to their attention by some friends.
The Woodward family showed us a now deleted post in which one driver wrote, "why u told me to get in the front that day. You hit that kid cuz your brakes on your car wasn't good." The other driver responds, "what you talking about it was 2 cars that's what everybody saying you going to jail to..."
The family said it's an outrage the two drivers are so casually discussing the death of the 8-year old.
"They should be locked up immediately. That's it, locked up immediately," said Jermaine Woodward Sr., Maine's father.
Both drivers got speeding tickets, and one was cited for careless driving. But so far, neither is facing criminal charges.
"It makes me mad. It makes me very angry," said James Fordham, Maine's grandfather.
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"Just come tell the truth. Tell the police. You shouldn't have to do it on social media. It shouldn't have to come out like that," Jermaine Woodward said.
The family said one driver fled the scene and they believe he should be charged as a hit-and-run driver. Prosecutors, however, said their investigation has found it was not a hit-and-run case. They are still investigating the case, awaiting a report from the medical examiner.
Maine was a rising football star and a good student, his family said, crying as they spoke of him.
"He was a special kid. And he was going to be a special somebody. Just imagine if he was 20 years old. What he might have turned into, you know? But we'll never know now," his grandfather said.
The family says what disturbed them most about the Facebook post is that the two drivers seemed more concerned with the possibility of going to jail than the death of 8-year old Maine.
"I don't see no remorse at all," Jermaine Woodward said.
"If they was to admit, "Oh man, it was an accident, I'm sorry, show some type of remorse," I would feel a little bit better," said James Fordham.
NBC 4 New York reached out to the two men who made the Facebook posts. They have not yet replied to requests for comment.
