Family, community mourn death of cyclist hit by car in Destrehan

Family and community members mourn the loss of Wayne Mitchell at his home going celebration, which was held on Jan. 11 at Greater Good Hope Baptist Church in Norco.

Wayne Mitchell, 69, died Dec. 30 after he was hit by an SUV while riding his bicycle on Ormond Boulevard, according to his family and a press release from the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Mitchell’s niece, Carlanda Isaac, said a witness of the accident told her that Mitchell veered slightly into the road to bypass a car parked in the bike lane.

Mitchell was wearing a safety vest at the time of his death, but he was not wearing a helmet, according to a video of the scene. According to Isaac, the autopsy revealed that Mitchell’s cause of death was a lacerated heart. Visible marks on his body implied he was dragged, Isaac said.

Isaac said the family has not heard from the driver, a 25-year-old man from Luling who has not been named in public statements from the sheriff’s office.

“The closure that our family is looking for is ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t see him. Do you need anything.’ It’s the little things,” Isaac said.

She said she wanted the driver to know the family is praying for him.

“I know that it is hard for us and equally as hard for him to have to live with,” she said.

Isaac said good Samaritans stopped to help Mitchell, who died of his injuries at the hospital.

Mitchell poses for a photograph when he was in the ninth grade.

“The people in the community were awesome,” she said. “There was a nurse who stayed with him until the very end. There were people that were pulling over [to help]. Even through the tragic loss, it brings me peace to see how everybody just came together [to help him.]”

She said she could tell from witness videos of the scene that the driver was distraught.

Isaac said she believed the hard part was over, and that the family could now properly mourn the loss of a beloved uncle and brother. She said Mitchell’s funeral was a true celebration of life.

“Everybody had stories to tell,” she said. “People were stopping by the house sharing things we didn’t even know, saying what he did for them and how he was a blessing for their family. He barely had anything at this time, and he was still finding a way to bless other people, so that makes us feel really good.”

Isaac said Mitchell and his three siblings grew up in Norco, and their parents had a large property where they grew food and raised animals.

“We had ducks, we had chickens, peacocks,” she said. “We had every animal you could imagine. And that’s how Wayne grew up, he grew up a lover of nature, a lover of animals.”

She said Mitchell had peacocks, snakes and alligators as pets.

“He would bring them around like a puppy,” she said with a laugh.

Wayne Mitchell stands in front of his car with an alligator in the trunk.

Isaac said that once, when she was a little girl, Mitchell pulled a large alligator from the trunk of his car.

“He got the alligator in the middle of the street, and everybody is like ‘what the hell?’” she said. “And he is ready to cut the alligator up and give out pieces of the alligator for people to cook. That was him, from motorcycles to peacocks, he was adventurous.”

Mitchell was also an avid junk collector, Isaac said.

“Whatever we may have seen as junk, he saw as valuable, from cars to clothing to shoes,” she said. “He would find anything and collect it until he found someone to give it to.”

And he was always on his bike, she said.

“That bike, it was a hobby for him, it was just something that he chose to do,” Isaac said.

Isaac said Mitchell worked at her grandfather’s business, St. Charles Janitorial Company, until her grandfather’s retirement. He then worked in construction, she said.

Isaac said her grandfather, who was born on a plantation in Baton Rouge, owned and operated the janitorial company for 25 years. Her grandparents instilled the values of generosity and giving into their children and grandchildren, she said.

“Our grandparents kept us very family oriented,” Isaac said. “It was always church, going out to eat, family time. Coming from where they came from that was a really, really big deal.”

Mitchell rakes leaves at the townhome complex where he lived. Mitchell’s niece, Carlanda Isaac, said her uncle took on the role of volunteer maintenance man for his Brandon Hall neighbors.

But tragedy rocked the Mitchell family when Mitchell’s brother, Betrand, died in 1978. Mitchell was 23 years old.

“That’s when things started taking a turn for Wayne,” she said. “He never recovered from the loss of his brother. They were best friends. They did everything together.”

Isaac said that before their deaths in the early 2000s, her grandparents always made sure that Mitchell was supported.

“They wanted to make sure he always had somewhere to live, and that he was always taken care of,” she said. “You would probably think he was homeless by looking at him, but he came from a family that really loved him, cared for him.”

Isaac said that her aunt, Claudette Magee, and her uncle, James Magee, took Mitchell to his dialysis appointments over the last four years. Claudette also made Mitchell home cooked meals every day.

On Dec. 30, just ten days after Mitchell’s birthday, Claudette called to let him know she was bringing him a meal. He told her to leave it at his door. He was on his way to Winn Dixie – a daily errand – to collect what the grocery throws out, so he could give it to people in need. After Claudette placed the food on Mitchell’s porch, she noticed a commotion on Ormond Boulevard.

Isaac said when Claudette arrived on the scene of the accident, the first thing she saw was a blue bike.

“That’s when she knew,” Isaac said.