Surveillance video captures 13-year-old driver moments before hitting 71-year-old; family remembers victim

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    NASHVILLE (WSMV) — Surveillance video shows the moment a 13-year-old driver hits another driver pulling out of a parking lot on Nolensville Pike on Friday.

The victim, 71-year-old David Cheatham, was inside the stopped car and killed.

“People remember our dad even from the first time they met him,” Dia Mimms, Cheatham’s daughter, said.

When the Cheathams think of their father, they remember his compassion for his family and everyone.

“Our dad was the healthiest 71-year-old man you would have ever met,” Mimms said.

“He would ride a bike to work on snow days,” David Cheatham, victim’s son, said. “He would ride a bike, to work, on snow days.”

“He took care of me,” says Jenice Cheatham, David’s wife of 53 years. She said her husband went to pick up tools at the O’Reilly Auto Parts store off Nolensville Pike, down the street from their house.

Metro Police have identified the 71-year-old man, who died after police said a 13-year-old ran a light and crashed into his vehicle.

“I told him I wanted to go with him, and he said ‘no, you just stay here and rest,'” Jenice recalls. She’s recovering from a heart transplant and says David is always at her side. If he steps out, he will call every 30 minutes to check on her. But on Friday, she realized she hadn’t heard from him for some time.

“So, I picked up, and I called him, I called him, I called him, and it started going to a recording,” says Jenice.

Little did she know what was going on down the street. When her husband pulled out of the O’Reilly parking lot, the 13-year-old driver slammed into him and crashed his car into a nearby pole. After that, Jenice got a call from Metro Police saying her husband was killed.

“It was so hard I just lost it,” Jenice said. “I couldn’t dial anybody; I was just pushing buttons, and I was just screaming.”

“Why wasn’t he in school?” Mimms questions. “He’s 13 years old. He should have been in school.”

While the family questions what happened, they remember the man their father, husband, and grandfather. A man with compassion for others.

“If he met this young man out on the street, he probably would’ve helped him,” Mimms said.

The Juvenile Justice Center said they couldn’t say if the 13-year-old was involved in other criminal activity in the past since he is under 14.

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