Boy Mourned After Hit-and-Run

Father in Stable Condition; Police Appeal to Public for Information

The birthday party was set. It was to be at Dave and Buster's tonight. Lakeia Atkinson planned to celebrate her little brother's big day by going to his school and dropping off a batch of cupcakes for him and his fourth-grade classmates.

Now there will be no party. Ricky Atkinson, the birthday boy, was hit by a car and killed Wednesday evening. He would have turned 11 today.

"He was just a happy child," said Atkinson, 25, adding that he went everywhere with her. "We were very close."

Ricky and his father, Ricky Atkinson Sr., 43, were crossing busy Route 450 at the corner of Woodlawn Drive in Landover Hills about 9 p.m. when they were struck by a car that did not stop, Prince George's County police said.

Ricky was pronounced dead at a hospital about 10 p.m. His father was taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he was being treated for broken bones and other injuries. He was in stable condition yesterday, family members said.

Police asked anyone with information about the accident or the car involved to contact police.

"We are looking for a dark-colored vehicle with extensive front-end damage," said police spokeswoman Debbi Carlson. "We need anyone who was in the area with information to call."

As police continued the investigation, family members wondered what kind of person would strike a human being and drive off.

"I want them to come forward," said Ricky Atkinson's fiancee, Tammie Forte. "If it were a member of their family, they would want the person to come clean as well."

In the two-story brick house in Landover Hills where Ricky lived with his father and Forte, relatives and friends lovingly remembered "Yowdee," as Ricky was known, as an honor student and happy child who loved rap music, playing video games and joking around with people.

"I just can't say anything," said Ricky's grandfather James Atkinson. "I want whoever did this to come forward."

Then the tearful but joyful thoughts of Ricky turned to anger.

Forte said that when Ricky and his father left the house, they were headed to a nearby convenience store to make a quick purchase. Soon after, she said, she received a call from neighbors about an accident involving a man and a boy.

"They were laying in the street," Forte said. "A neighbor who saw them said he was laying in the street and trying to find little Ricky's hand. He always holds his hand when they cross the street."

"Tomorrow would have been his 11th birthday," said Lakeia Atkinson, who spent the day yesterday making funeral arrangements and checking on her father. "We were going to Dave and Buster's. I was going to have a cupcake party at the school."

At nearby Gaywood Elementary School yesterday, grief counselors encouraged children to write sympathy cards in memory of their classmate. Outside the school, Principal Sonya Harris described Ricky as a child with great potential.

"He was a very likable student," Harris said. "He was very sincere. He was a comforter to other students. He wanted recognition for his deeds, but it wasn't self-serving."

Staff writer Debbi Wilgoren and researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.