22-year-old man killed by sandbag was planning to propose
TOLEDO, Ohio -- A 22-year-old man killed after he was struck by a sandbag hurled from an overpass had been planning to propose to his girlfriend just weeks later, an attorney for his family told ABC News.
Four teenagers were arrested after Toledo, Ohio, police say they threw a construction sandbag from an overpass on Dec. 19, hitting a passenger in a car on the interstate below.
The victim, 22-year-old Marquise Byrd, of Warren, Michigan, died three days later.
Lillian Diallo, an attorney for the victim's family who knew Byrd, told ABC News that Byrd, a father to a 2-year-old boy, was planning a surprise proposal for his girlfriend, the mother of his child. He was set to propose on his birthday - Jan. 10.
Diallo said Byrd's girlfriend now has his name tattooed on her ring finger.
"He was a delightful young man," Diallo said. "Always had a smile, always tried to cheer you up."
Diallo said the family is "not doing well" and Byrd's girlfriend remains "very upset."
"She didn't even know she was going to be his fiancee," she said.
The four suspects -- three who are 14 years old and one who is 13 years old -- were charged with murder and vehicular vandalism, the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office said. They have entered denials to the charges, according to The Toledo Blade.
The teens are being held at a juvenile detention center and are next in court on Jan. 19, The Toledo Blade reported.
Prosecutors are not seeking to try the teenagers as adults, the newspaper reported.
