MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A family is looking for answers after their father was killed while walking home from the store.
It happened on April 22 in Senatobia, Mississippi. Police said someone ran over and killed 67-year-old Joseph Alexander, Sr. His family, who called him Papa Joe, remembers him as a kind and gentle man.
Officers said a motorist driving by saw Alexander lying in the middle of Highway 4 West near Morgan Street. When police arrived on the scene, he had already taken his last breath. His family, including his son Joseph Alexander, Jr., is devastated.
“My father didn’t deserve the heinous crime and tragic way that he went out,” Alexander Jr. said. “I was told that my father was involved in a vehicular homicide. He was hit by a car or a vehicle on his way home from the store.”
WREG obtained the surveillance video capturing the moment Alexander, Sr. walked into a convenience store moments before he was run over. He was buying bread, chips and eggs, leaving the store with his items in one hand and his cane in the other.
“I just don’t see how someone could leave someone in a position like that,” Alexander, Jr. said. “We can’t call our father anymore. We can’t spend time with him. All we have left are precious memories that we shared.”
Detective Brannon Rushing is the lead investigator and he said it is hard to believe the driver did not know that they struck someone with their vehicle.
“You’re never going to forget the sounds, the sights, the feeling you had when you knew I’ve just cost someone their life,” Rushing said.
Detectives said someone knows who killed Alexander, Sr., and they now need them to do the right thing. Alexander, Sr.’s family is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
If you know who killed Joseph Alexander, Sr., you are urged to call the Tate County CrimeStoppers at (662)-301-1111 or the Senatobia Police Department at (662)-366-1966.
All calls are confidential.