Family of hit-and-run victim Lawziah Karaitiana plead for driver to come forward

The family of a man who died after being struck by a vehicle near Masterton early on Saturday is asking the driver in the hit-and-run to come forward.

Lawziah Karaitiana, a Castlepoint resident, was found unresponsive after being struck by a vehicle on Masterton Castlepoint Rd around 4.30am on Saturday. Police are appealing to the public for information.

Karaitiana’s great-uncle Ronald Karaitiana told Stuff the 20-year-old’s sudden death had been “really devastating” for the whānau and their community.

“If anyone has information, if there is any way that we can put a plea out there, do the right thing and inform the police or let someone know,” he said.

Lawsiah’s father, Lawrence Blake, had also died in a road accident at age 24.

“He was one of those kids that shines. When you’re with him, he makes you smile, he makes you laugh, and sometimes you didn’t really see all the pain he was going through in his own personal world,” Ronald Karaitiana told Stuff.

“He was one of those kids that could sing a song, could tell a joke, and was fearless in the sense of coming forward in times like these, to make things light.”

Ronald Karaitiana told Stuff that Lawziah’s partner Jenna was “absolutely devastated”,

Police said they were trying to put together Lawsiah’s movements the night before he died and to figure out what happened.

“The most important thing for us is to get this boy back home so that we can grieve and move him on to his final resting place,” Karaitiana told Stuff.

The road was closed for more than six hours and reopened at 12.30pm, after the police’s serious crash unit completed their investigation.