'You're a hero': Family of 3-year-old killed in Livonia hit-and-run meets man who followed driver
Family meets man credited with catching hit-and-run driver
At the sentencing for a woman who fled after hitting and killing a 3-year-old boy in Livonia last summer, the victim's family met the 19-year-old man who called police and followed the driver. He is credited with leading police to Tammy Sandoval, who is now headed to prison.
LIVONIA, Mich. (FOX 2) - A man credited with leading police to a driver after she killed a 3-year-old and fled the scene met the victim's family on Tuesday.
Hunter, 19, was driving on Merriman in Livonia on June 29, 2025, when he saw what he thought was trash in the road before realizing it was debris from a pedestrian crash. That crash killed a 3-year-old Khalil Robinson and injured his mother, Tia Robinson, and twin sister Khloe.
The backstory:
"Everything just happened so fast," Hunter said.
Once he realized that what he saw was the aftermath of someone being hit by a vehicle, he followed the driver, later identified as 55-year-old Tammy Sandoval, and called 911 to give police her license plate number.
Tammy Sandoval
Sandoval, who lives in Mount Morris, was arrested the next day and charged with a slew of crimes for fleeing the fatal crash scene. She pleaded guilty to operating while a license was suspended, revoked, or denied – causing death, and one count of operating while license suspended, revoked, or denied – causing serious injury.
On Tuesday, she was sentenced to 5-15 years in prison for the first charge, and received a concurrent sentence of 3-5 years for the second charge.
What they're saying:
After she was sentenced, Khalil's family met the person responsible for making sure Sandoval was held accountable - Hunter.
"You're not only a guardian angel for Tia and the kids, but you're a hero for us, as well," one of the family members told Hunter.
Despite being hailed a hero, Hunter says he is not a hero and did not want attention for his actions.
"Just do the right thing. Someone ran them over, didn't stop. She would have gotten away with it," Hunter said.
The Source: Previous reporting and an interview with Hunter were used for this story.