On Tuesday, May 29th, Sherell “Rell” L. Lewis Jr. was removing debris on the side of a Louisiana highway when 18-year-old Matthew M. Martin crashed into him. Lewis was taken to a local hospital but died soon after. It was his 31st birthday.

Sgt. James Anderson from Louisiana State Police said “There was debris in the roadway and he didn’t want any other motorists to strike it. So he gets out of the vehicle to remove the debris, and he is struck while this is happening.”

Sherell Lewis, who also went by Rell, owned a barbershop and was active in his community. His sister Shotoya Lewis-Ayers said, “he would always make jokes, crack you up, keep you smiling” and that “he loved what he did.” Everyone loved him because he would do anything he could to help others; he would give free haircuts for charity, give the kids free snacks, and go to local sporting events. 

The outrage began after the driver went to Snapchat with a picture of his red pickup truck with a caption saying, “Y’all I just hit a whole guy on the highway,” followed by three crying emojis. Martin told a friend in the chat saying he had killed “some n—-r.”

He and his friend seemed more concerned about the condition of the 2003 Chevy pickup truck and according to Martin, he “f—-d it up pretty good.” Martin didn’t seem too upset about the ordeal as he used the laughing crying emoji in the exchange.

Martin said in another post “I feel bad for the family and all but now I gotta buy a new windshield and a whole bunch of other stuff.”

Twitter users responded with #JusticeForRell, demanding justice and sharing as many details as they could.

The investigation into Lewis’s death found that Martin was wearing his seatbelt and a toxicology report is pending.