The donation is the largest ever received by the Crime Stoppers group, which has a $3,000 annual budget.
“Without (Crime Stoppers’) help, we’re convinced that this crime never would have been solved,” Jeff Kennedy, the father of John “Mingo” Kennedy, said during a news conference to announce the donation from the John M. Kennedy Memorial Fund.
Kennedy, a Green Bay resident who would have turned 21 today, was killed in January when his wheelchair was struck by a pickup truck driven by a man who stopped briefly, then fled the scene. Information from a Crime Stoppers tip, and from an off-duty Green Bay fire lieutenant who witnessed the collision, led to the arrest of the Forestville man who drove the pickup.
Driver Mark Sperber, now 41, is to be sentenced Jan. 23 for hit and run involving a death. Authorities said he claimed to have struck a garbage can, then tried to get co-workers at his De Pere employer to fix the damage.
Kennedy’s family presented the donation to Crime Stoppers President Hans Lux after showing a slide presentation with images from Kennedy’s life.
Crime Stoppers likely will use the donation to boost public awareness of its program, which provides rewards for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of people who commit crimes, Lux said.
“We owe it to the Kennedy family to help solve more crimes,” he said after the announcement. “We don’t want any more families to have to be in the situation they were in.”
Relatives of John "Mingo" Kennedy credit the program for bringing in the tip that led to a conviction in the case.
Kennedy was a Green Bay resident who would have turned 21 on Friday. He was killed in January when his wheelchair was hit by a pickup truck that stopped briefly, then sped off.
A Crime Stoppers tip helped lead to the driver's arrest. Forty-one-year-old Mark Sperber was convicted and will be sentenced next month.
Jeff Kennedy is the victim's father. He says the family is convinced that without Crime Stoppers, the crime would have gone unsolved.
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