[ad_1]
“I know people want to protect their children, but a life has been lost. You can’t allow him to get away with it. It breaks my heart.” — Michelle Koo on the death of Damien Seguin
Article content
Damien Seguin turned 19 just two weeks before he was mowed down by a driver who then roared away from the scene early Friday morning.
Seguin’s family were asked to say their goodbyes on Sunday and the teen died on Monday from his injuries.
“He was a nice, funny, smart kid to be around,” Michelle Koo, Seguin’s co-guardian, said. “He was always smiling, no matter what.
“Damien was kind, he was like a great big brother for my daughter Sofia and my nieces. They aren’t doing well with this loss.”
Seguin’s mom was Koo’s best friend in high school, and when she began having trouble at home, she moved in with Koo and her mom Debra.
She was 18 when Seguin was born. Koo and her mom became co-guardians and raised him for most of the past 19 years.
The teen had been out with friends on the night of Thursday March 25 — Koo isn’t sure how many — and, just after midnight they and the occupants of another car, three males of roughly the same age, got into an altercation near MacPherson Avenue and Marine Drive in south Burnaby.
Article content
As Koo has had it explained to her, the occupants of the other car, described as an old-model silver or champagne-coloured Nissan Altima circa 2002-2006, got out of their vehicle, approached the vehicle Seguin was in, and pepper-sprayed the interior.
Seguin got out of the car he was in, the three guys from the other car ran back to theirs and jumped in, and Sequin was purposely run over as they sped away.
The Altima could have resulting damage consistent with a collision, Burnaby RCMP said.
“They hit Damien and tried to hit one of the other kids,” Koo said.
The hit-and-run took place just a kilometre from the Koo home.
“I still can’t wrap my head around the whole situation. I don’t think I’ll ever be ever be fully able to understand.”
Seguin graduated from South Burnaby Secondary last June. A homebody who loved playing video games, he’d gotten a full-time job and was thinking he might like a career in game programming.
He dearly loved his birth mother, he wanted to be with her and even tried living with her a couple times over the years, Koo said.
And, of course, the occupants of the other car are someone’s sons.
The police told Koo they don’t believe the Nissan was stolen.
“I’m just hoping somebody comes forward,” Koo said. “And if not … obviously, somebody knows something, knows where the car is, knows who did it.
“Somebody is hiding something. They (the three teen males in the Nissan) were also kids, they have parents who must know that something happened.”
Koo hopes that if the driver’s parents have discovered anything — a fender dent, blood on the hood, their son acting weird — they realize this isn’t something to cover up.
“I know people want to protect their children, but a life has been lost. You can’t allow him to get away with it,” she said, her voice a bare whisper. “It breaks my heart.
“It wasn’t his time, it’s not fair, it’s not right, and I really hope somebody will do the right thing.”
gordmcintyre@postmedia.com
[ad_2]
Source link
