‘Just please move over’: Family of tow truck driver grieves after fatal hit-and-run

THOMSON, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A family is heartbroken after a father of four was killed Thursday morning in a hit-and-run incident on Interstate 20.

The accident happened on Interstate 20 at Cobham Road in McDuffie County. The sole victim, Jason Willis, leaves behind a wife and several young children, one of whom passed away to SIDS last year.

Willis' wife, Victoria, says she knew something was off when she woke up this morning. Jason hadn’t come home from work, and she had gotten worried.

“I texted him and asked him what he was doing, just to see if he responded. But he didn’t respond,” Victoria said.

That’s when she immediately knew something was wrong.

“I tracked his phone to the side of the interstate where I met the coroner. Instantly when you meet a coroner, you know someone’s not walking away. I knew it was my husband,” she said.

When Willis' family arrived at the scene, the coroner confirmed what Victoria feared.

“Me and my kids sat on the side of the road for a little while,” she said.

Georgia State Patrol says Jason was loading up a car when he was killed. Victoria says that’s something she’s always worried about.

She works with Jason at Wayne’s Towing, and has seen too many close calls while out on the road with him.

“That’s scary to know that someone almost hits your husband and then one morning you wake up to find out somebody did hit your husband, and they did not stop,” she said.

Victoria says he was a compassionate man who would’ve given the shirt off his back. She says he loved his job and took pride in being a first responder, even though not everyone thinks of tow truck drivers that way.

“They’re helping your family or you to make sure you get to tell your kids goodnight, to feed your baby, to make sure you get home to your wife and your husband,” Victoria said.

And she has a simple plea for anyone who sees a tow truck on the side of the road.

“Just please move over. Those are somebody’s parents. Those are somebody’s kids. And now my kids have to grow up without their father,” she said.

The Georgia State Patrol is still searching for the suspect in this hit-and-run. If you have any information about the incident, call 404-624-7451.

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