Daughter of man who was hit and killed on Williamston Bridge speaks out as no charges are brought against the driver

WILLIAMSTON, N.C. (WITN) -Who hit and killed Melvin Francis on the Roanoke River Bridge? It’s a never-ending question Rhonda Francis has asked herself since the day her father died.

“I just feel like he wasn’t paying attention and came up close but didn’t see him,” Francis said.

Williamston police say 67-year-old Francis was struck by a vehicle headed north on U.S. 17 while pushing a vehicle that had broken down on the evening of November 4th.

Tuesday morning, police said the district attorney wouldn’t charge the driver who killed Francis, which his daughter says she sadly wasn’t surprised to hear.

“I kind of figured that he wasn’t going to be charged,” Francis said. “God knows everything. If it wasn’t right, God will handle it.”

Rhonda says her father was a blue-collar man, who loved his work and his people.

“A lot of people are going to miss him,” Francis said. “He did a lot for people all around the community.”

Rhonda doesn’t feel the district attorney took enough time to carefully make a decision in her father’s death. She hopes the case will be reconsidered.

“I know for a fact from the guy that was with him, that several cars went around them,” Francis said. “I hope they open the case back up and investigate thoroughly,”

Rhonda Francis says her father’s life was too valuable, for him not to receive the proper justice in his own death.

Police say Francis died at the scene.

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