Brothers critically injured in hit-and-run fight to survive

Doctors give family encouraging news in older boy's condition

DANIA BEACH, Fla. – Two boys who were critically injured in a hit-and-run crash continue their fight to survive.

Apollo Brown Jr., 8, and his 14-year-old brother, Kelv-ron Florence, remain heavily sedated and hooked up to ventilators, but doctors have given the family encouraging news about one of the victims.

"They changed his breathing machine and that's a good sign that he's recovering," said the boys' father, Apollo Brown Sr., who spoke to reporters outside of Joe Dimaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood.

Florence is now using a smaller breathing machine, signaling a stronger attempt to breathe on his own.

"They're fighters," Brown Sr. said. "Right now, the oldest is coming along a little faster than the younger one. They're still fighting."

The incident happened Monday evening after the brothers left basketball practice. The pair was walking in the 100 block of Bryan Road in Dania Beach when they were both struck by a pickup truck that never stopped. The area does not have sidewalks.

Detectives with the Broward Sheriff's Office have been searching for a newer model metallic gray Toyota Tacoma ever since.

The impact is believed to have caused damage to the front passenger-side headlight and plastic casing on the fog light. The truck is also missing its Toyota emblem from the front grill.

Numerous tips have poured in since the incident, but investigators are still soliciting information from the public, reminding citizens that no tip is insignificant.

"He or she know who they are and what they done," Brown Sr. said. "They left me in a lot of pain and I hold a lot of anger, but I'm humble and my kids are the most important thing to me right now."

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About the Author:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.