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Family Of Carmichael Hit-And-Run Victim Talks About His Tragic Death

CARMICHAEL (CBS13) - The family of hit-and-run victim Harison Long-Randall, who died on Sunday as a result of injuries from the July accident, broke their silence Thursday in an emotional press conference.

Harison's sister Mary Beth read a letter on behalf of her mother, who couldn't make it because she was too emotional.

"The morning of July 29th was the day my heart broke into many pieces," she read. "I will never forget the code blue call to my son's room as I sat out in the waiting room hoping and praying he would come through the latest crisis."

Long-Randall, 21, died at Mercy San Juan about two weeks after he and his girlfriend Gemily West, 23, were seriously injured in the hit-and-run accident in a Carmichael cross walk that also killed West's four dogs. Long-Randall pushed West out of the way of the speeding car and lost his leg in the accident. He died of complications from the trauma.

"A person cannot explain the agony and grief a parent feels once their child has passed," the letter read. "Although my son is gone, his memory will remain and I will always remember the kind and compassionate man he had become."

Paul Walden, 31, was arrested a few days after the July 16 crash as he left his mother's house in North Highlands. The CHP charged him with driving under the influence the night of the arrest in addition to the hit-and-run charges. Walden has multiple previous DUI convictions.

"It's just a terrible time that in a split second changed his whole entire life and he's no longer with us because somebody decided that they needed to get in a car after doing whatever he was on," Mary Beth said.

Harision's father, Chris Randall, says can't stop thinking about his son.

"I'm mourning all the time," he said. "I can sympathize with people that's lost love ones. It's horrific. I don't have any other words to put it."

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