MILWAUKEE — Jaime Walls wants people to know that her nephew was more than a person who died in a terrible car crash.
Michael Captain was a father who enjoyed making people laugh.
Relatives say Michael, who also went by "Mikey," was killed Saturday night when the car he was riding in crashed into a bus at North 35th Street and Wisconsin Avenue.
Milwaukee Police say the person driving ignored a red light before hitting the bus. Video from the bus showed passengers being thrown from one side to the other according to the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998 president Donnell Shorter.
"He had a heart of gold, and he really would give his shirt off of his back for you. I know a lot of people say that, but it was true," Walls said.
Walls is stunned that her first nephew is gone.
"It’s very unreal. You know I woke up this morning and you know just for a couple minutes you forget," Walls explained. "You know my nephew only lived 31 years and that’s not long enough. He won’t see his daughter. He won’t see us anymore. It’s just sad."
"The sheer impact of how hard these cars were hitting the bus, it’s not fender benders," Shorter stated.
The crash at 35th and Wisconsin came just under 48 hours after another Milwaukee Police said another car traveling more than 100 miles per hour on Capitol Drive hit a Milwaukee County Transit bus at North 35th Street. The driver of the car was killed.
Shorter said the bus operators in that case worked to put out a fire that started after the collision.
Last week, MCTS leaders said reckless driving crashes involving buses are up 40 percent compared to the same time frame last year.
Shorter says the two recent fatal crashes highlight the dangers that bus operators see every day and that the deaths take a mental toll.
"It’s just a matter of time before something like this happens. If we don’t change the way that we’re operating our vehicles it’s going to happen again," Shorter added.
Walls hopes sharing her family's story will send a critical message.
"It’s not worth hurrying everywhere you go. It can’t be that serious that you’re rushing through the city rushing through red lights. You're devastating families every single time you do it. I just pray that Milwaukee gets safer," Walls stressed.
Neither MPD nor the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office had an update on the 35th and Wisconsin case on Wednesday.
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