Widow honors husband's memory year after hit-and-run tragedy

Family, friends planning charity run to honor Terry Sikes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One year after a popular runner, husband and musician was killed by a hit-and-run driver, his widow said she's trying to do good things in his memory.

Terry Sikes, 56, was killed on the Westside on July 7, 2013, when he was on a morning bike ride.

Police said the men who hit him had been involved in a crime spree and they left the scene. They're now charged with murder and are sitting in jail awaiting trial. The first is scheduled to start in August.

Saturday, there will be a memorial run in Sikes' honor.

His wife, Bonita Golden-Sikes (pictured above with Terry), spoke publicly about his death for the very first time with New4Jax on Friday.

She said she's still very hurt by the crime and misses her husband dearly. But she's trying to honor him by helping others.

"He had a great way of finding the good in everything," Golden-Sikes said.

She said she remembers her soul mate, a man she met on a run, who ended up running away with her heart.

"He was a sweet, sweet man," she said. "Over the top. What you saw was what you got with him, and he was just absolutely loved by so many people."

But their love story was cut short a year ago. Police said Sikes was the last victim of an early morning crime spree on the Westside.

"I wanted to kick things, and I wanted to hit things," Golden-Sikes said. "And then I just dropped and sobbed."

Eddie Postway

Jacksonville detectives said 23-year-old Eddie Postway (pictured, above right) and 20-year-old Cyrus Benjamin robbed two men at bus stops, hitting one of them with a car. Those men survived.

Police said the suspects crashed into Sikes while he was on a bike ride not far away.

Investigators said Postway and Benjamin (pictured, below right) left Sikes there dead.

"It was a curve that they could not negotiate at the speed that they were going," Golden-Sikes said.

But she said to her it's still murder, even though they didn't hit him intentionally.

"I don't wish them awful things," Golden-Sikes said. "I just wish them to be put away for life. I don't know what that means for them, but they just don't need to hurt anybody else."

The hit-and-run was not the first time Sikes was touched by tragedy. He lost his first wife just over 10 years ago.

In 2002, he and his wife were driving in St. Johns County when a man was fleeing deputies. That man crashed into their car, seriously injuring Sikes and killing his wife.

Sikes then married Bonita, who's now determined to honor his memory.

Family and friends are hosting a run in Jacksonville Beach at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, starting from the Sea Walk Pavilion. The run is free and open to the public.

They will be collecting donations to help send underprivileged high school children to a running camp.

Golden-Sikes said it's what Terry would have wanted.

Anyone who wants to donate can bring cash or a check to the run.