RIDGE SPRING, S.C. (WJBF) — A Ridge Spring family is seeking justice after their loved one was killed in a hit and run last year. 

They met officials at the Saluda County courthouse to get more about the investigation into the death of Tim Cyrus. 

“He was a good boy, Truetta Cyrus said about her son. “He didn’t hurt nobody. Didn’t get nobody in trouble,” she added. “It’s definitely left a hole in my heart and a hole in the community,” Tim Martin added. “He was the best thing they ever had around here,” Tyrone Hartley shared. “He helped people out when he could, and he’ll go above and beyond to help you out. It was a tragedy what happened to him,” he added. Cyrus and Hartley were childhood friends. “We were neighborhood kids running around here, all playing all in the woods and everything,” he recalled.

Tim Cyrus, a father of three, and a caretaker to his ailing mother, Truetta, was killed while riding his moped on U.S. Highway 1 near Topaz Road in June of 2021 in Saluda. “[Tim] was her only child, and he was her caregiver,” Sharon Ewing said. “He watched after her every day. Of course, if you’ve seen she’s completely wheelchair-bound; she has terrible arthritis and even needs assistance dressing. So to lose her only child is a tremendous loss,” she added.

Authorities say 27-year-old Amanda Sandin was driving a dodge caravan when she hit a moped driver, later identified as Cyrus, from behind. He veered off the side of the road and crashed. Though he was wearing a helmet, Cyrus was pronounced dead at the scene. Sandin went home, called her mother, then a lawyer, and then turned herself in. “Now, all we have to go the rest of our lives without our father,” Dechondria Dennis said. “It’s really sad that I lost him, but I know he’s in a better place,” Tysean Coleman added. “Today is my birthday, and I gotta go on without him,” Dontarrius Dennis shared.

Sandin is charged with leaving the scene of a collision involving death.

On Thursday, April 14, the family met key players in the case, such as the victims’ advocate and the solicitor.

Some feel as if they were left in the dark after the incident happened. “Nobody communicates with [Truetta Cyrus] about anything that was going on,” Sharon Ewing said. “The solicitor said we’re actually going to conflict this case to the attorney general’s office,” family attorney Ralph Kennedy said. “I certainly trust and pray that the attorney general continues to prosecute [Sandin] for that,” he added.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s Office will take the case from here to hopefully answer the many questions surrounding Cyrus’ death. 

“If this is the actual driver or if she’s actually covering up for someone who hit Tim,” James Williams asked. “How come nobody didn’t give that person a drug test or an alcohol test, even though she turned herself in three hours and something later,” Sharon Ewing questioned. Ewing also wondered why neighbors were able to collect some of Cyrus’ personal effects from the crime scene and bring them back to Ms. Cyrus’ home.

Meanwhile, a wrongful death, civil case against Sandin is now underway. “There should be some consequences and repercussions for the actions. You don’t leave a human beside the road like that. There is no excuse for it,” Ewing added.

Count on NewsChannel 6 to keep you updated on this developing story.