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Bypass fatality still under investigation




Hendersonville police are still investigating why a car struck 28-year-old Fitim Haziri on Vietnam Veterans Boulevard on July 27.SUBMITTED

Hendersonville police are still investigating why a car struck 28-year-old Fitim Haziri on Vietnam Veterans Boulevard on July 27.SUBMITTED

A young father who was struck by a car after pulling over on the side of Vietnam Veterans Boulevard on July 27 may have been hit by a distracted driver, Hendersonville police confirmed earlier this week.

Twenty-eight-year-old Fitim Haziri was following a friend who was towing a boat when the two pulled to the side of the road to secure the boat’s cover.

The accident occurred in the westbound lanes of the bypass at around 10:30 a.m. between the Center Point Road and New Shackle Island Road exits.

Haziri died from his injuries at Tristar Skyline Medical Center on July 29.

According to HPD Sgt. Josh Morrison, police are working closely with the Sumner County District Attorney’s Office on the case. Morrison also said that toxicology results are pending as well as an investigation into whether or not the driver was distracted while driving.

“We’ll subpoena phone records,” he said. Morrison declined to give the driver’s name or release a police report. He added the driver was an adult and not a teenager.

Qendrim Kolshi, a friend of Haziri’s has set up a Gofundme account to help Haziri’s wife and seven-month-old daughter.

Kolshi says he and Haziri first met in the 10th grade at Antioch High School. The two became fast friends when they learned they both fled to the U. S. from Kosovo. Ten years later, Haziri married Kolshi’s cousin and brought her to the U.S.

“When he got married and found out he was going to be a father, I have never seen that kind of joy and happiness,” Kolshi said. “Simply the guy was one-in-a-million and it still doesn’t feel real that he isn’t around anymore to see his daughter grow.”

Kolshi said that Haziri got off work at Tyson Foods at 8 a.m. and had planned to go to the lake with Kolshi’s cousin who lives in Hendersonville. The two decided to go to Percy Priest Lake instead of Old Hickory Lake where they usually go, he said.

“They wanted to change the scene a bit,” Kolshi added.

He said he started the Gofundme page to help his cousin with medical and funeral expenses and because Haziri was the family’s sole provider.

“I’m hoping to raise as much as we can for her so she has one less thing to worry about until she can get back on her feet,” he said.

The page had raised nearly $25,000 in five days. For more information or to contribute, go to www.gofundme.com/f/fitim-haziri-medical-fund.

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