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Family pleads for help in fatal Gulfport hit-and-run

 
Published Jan. 19, 2017

LARGO — Almost a month after Frankie McCray was hit by a car and killed while crossing the street, his family pleaded with the public Thursday for help in finding the driver.

"This is unbearable pain. I just pray someone comes forward," his brother, Philip McCray, said at a news conference at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. "I'm asking the public — actually, begging the public."

On Dec. 21 about 10:20 p.m., Frankie McCray, 41, was walking east on a crosswalk on 49th Street at 11th Avenue S in Gulfport when a car hit him, then sped away. Another car was unable to avoid him and ran over him while he was in the road. That driver stopped.

Sheriff's Office Sgt. Spencer Gross said Thursday that detectives had exhausted all leads in the case. All they knew about the car was that it was dark in color and had damage to one of the headlights.

Philip McCray, 48, struggled not to cry as he talked about his little brother, who always had a smile on his face, he said. He earned a business degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He served in the U.S. Military for more than three years. He was ordained as a minister in 1994.

He moved back to St. Petersburg, his birthplace, from Georgia about a year and a half ago to be closer to his family. They lost their father in 2014 and another brother the following year, Philip McCray said, surrounded by his cousins and godparents.

He spoke through tears about the night he had to go identify his brother's body.

"He's laying on his back in the middle of the street," he said. "Three hours I stayed there. I see my little brother on the ground."