Horrible: Neighbors respond after business owner dies in a hit-and-run crash in front of his restaurant

Neighbors are mourning the death of a Nashville restaurant owner on July 4.

According to Metro Police, Smokin Thighs owner 42-year-old Matthew Carney was injured in a hit-and-run incident in front of his Wedgewood-Houston restaurant. Carney was struck on June 19. According to investigators, he died of his injuries fifteen days after they occurred.

People who live near the restaurant said they witnessed the aftermath of the incident and are still shocked by what happened.

“It just made me sick,” Nashville Homeowner Sherryl Fuqua said.

Fuqua said she opened her phone one morning to headline.

“I heard that he had gotten hit. It was a hit-and-run,” Fuqua said.

Metro Police said Carney was hit by a Nissan Frontier pick-up truck. A few days later, police tracked the truck to the parking lot of LaQuinta Inn on Sidco Drive, however, police have not found and arrested the driver.

Andy Schumpert, who lives down the street from Fuqua, also saw the news of Carney’s death.

“I heard they did not catch [them] and I still don’t think they’ve caught whoever’s responsible,” Schumpert told the crowd. “I would like some accountability. It’s really a bad situation. I’d like to see some justice for him and his family.”

A group of Nashville business owners has offered a $10,000 prize for information that leads to the driver’s arrest.

“We’ve got such meanness in our world now that you could be at your own job and going about your business and the next thing you know you’re dead,” Fuqua complained.

Neighbors who knew Carney said he was funny, always smiling and a light in their community that they’ll never forget.