‘It was my worst nightmare come true’: Family hoping for answers in their loved ones unsolved hit and run case

HANOVER COUNTY, Va (WRIC) – It’s been over a year since a servicemember was hit by a car and killed on the side of the interstate in Hanover County.

Since May 8, 2023, the family of Makai Cummings has been hoping for answers about who took their loved ones life.

It was before 2 a.m. on I-295 in Hanover County near the Meadowbridge Road exit, when Airman 1st Class Makai Cummings pulled his car over on the shoulder. He had been visiting his family in Baltimore and was headed back to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina where he was stationed.

“I got nervous, because he had mentioned in his messages to his dad, it said that there was something you know, wrong with his vehicle,” Rotina Lacy, Makai’s mother, said.

It wasn’t much later Lacy got a call that something had happened.

“It was my worst nightmare come true,” Lacy said. “I completely lost it. I remember falling on the floor.”

According to Virginia State Police, he had to change a tire on his blue 2011 Infiniti sedan when he was then hit and killed.

“I don’t like to think about his last moments, I pray that he did not suffer,” Lacy said. “I don’t know, but all I can say is going moment by moment is the grace of God that’s holding me up.”

Lacy said he had been home that weekend celebrating her birthday. She described her 20-year-old son as someone who was determined, strong-willed and intelligent person. She said he had big plans for his career in the Air Force.

“He was so determined to be successful as a black man coming from Baltimore,” Lacy said. “He was determined to show the world, also to show, you know the people in the military, which he called his brothers, to show them, that [they’re] not all the same.”

Now Lacy prays that one day she can get answers about what happened to her son.

“Makai’s absence is a great loss for our family and our community,” Lacy said. “The person who did this needs to come forward because his life mattered.”

Anyone with information can also contact the OSI Det. 216 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base with any information at 919-722-1218. They can also email Virgina State Police at Virginia State Police at questions@vsp.virginia.gov or call them at (804) 750-8758.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRIC ABC 8News.