The sister of a 22-year-old man killed in a suspected hit and run accident said last night: "He had a horrible death, I didn't want my brother to die like that."

Carmilita Curtis spoke of her pain and anguish at the loss of her brother just a short distance from the family home in Albert Row, Sandys.

Raymond (Smockie) Curtis was walking home from Woody's Sports Bar in the early hours of Saturday when he was allegedly struck by a car.

Miss Curtis said Police have told the family they believe her brother was the victim of a hit-and-run driver and that a local Dockyard man has been arrested.

"I am shocked, angry and hurt that someone would do something like this and leave my brother's body lying in the road. How could they do that?," she said. "They didn't have a heart."

Yesterday, Mr. Curtis's grieving family laid flowers and stones at a roadside memorial at Black Bay, where his body was found.

A Bermuda Police Service spokesman said: "At 3.48 a.m. on Saturday, Police officers responded to a report of an unresponsive male on Malabar Road, Sandys parish. On arrival Police found an injured and semi-conscious male lying in the street.

"First aid was rendered with the assistance of EMTs from the Bermuda Fire Service and KEMH. Mr. Curtis was conveyed to King Edward Memorial Hospital where at 4.30 a.m. he was pronounced dead.

"No autopsy has been performed on the deceased body, therefore the Bermuda Police Service is not in a position to comment on a cause of death, but is treating the sudden death of Raymond Glenn Curtis as suspicious."

The spokesman said the investigation is being handled by detectives from the Serious Crime Unit.

"Currently there is a 25-year-old Sandys parish man in custody assisting Police with their enquiries," he said.

Yesterday, Mr. Curtis's uncle Mervin Curtis, 53, said: "We got the call about Raymond at 6.30 a.m. that morning and I haven't been right since. I don't think my family will ever get back together after this.

"This is a senseless death, and that is what hurts most."

Mr. Curtis's mother Christine lives in Mississippi, US, but is understood to be making arrangements to return to Bermuda for the funeral. His father Glenn Curtis died ten years ago.

Mr. Curtis's aunt Gloriette Rollins said yesterday: "She has taken the news of Raymond's death terribly. There's only Carmilita and Raymond, and Raymond's the youngest.

"I would just like to ask this person why they didn't get help, why they fled the scene?"

Ms Rollins, 50, an administrator at the Bank of Butterfield, said: "You don't leave a person to die like that."

The family yesterday paid tribute to Mr. Curtis, whom they described as "kind-spirited", "respectful" and "very loving".

Miss Curtis, 24, an administrative assistant at Sandys Secondary School, said of her brother: "Raymond was a very humble young man and had a lot of respect for everyone."

She said her brother was working in construction but wanted to move to the US to attend college and pursue a career in real estate.

Grandmother Inez Curtis, 76, said: "Raymond was a very good boy, very respectful. He was quiet and reserved, and loved his family very much."

In his leisure time, Mr. Curtis enjoyed swimming and going to watch his football team Ireland Rangers play.

Friend Michael (Bully) Bradshaw, 31, said: "I've known Raymond since he was nine or ten years old, he was a cool guy and didn't bother nobody.

"All I know is someone just came and knocked him down on his way home and kept on going, and that they found his body later. This should never have happened."

Patrica Bean, 47, whose son La-Kye Fubler was best friends with Mr. Curtis, said the Dockyard and Boaz Island community was reeling from his death, particularly following the road fatality of another young man, Tristan Codrington.

Mr. Codrington, 23, was the passenger on a motorbike which was in collision with a car in Mangrove Bay Road, Sandys, in June last year.

Mrs. Bean, a receptionist at Newstead Belmont Hills, said yesterday: "There's a tight-knit group of about 15 to 20 young men in this area who are very close to each other, so it's a very difficult time at the moment. They are pretty devastated.

"They are all very quiet right now but are putting up a sheet in Malabar Road and at Woody's so everyone can sign."

She said: "To lose another of our young men so soon, this has rocked the community.

"My nephew Tristan died about a year ago and so Raymond's death has opened up a lot of old wounds.

"Raymond was part of the family, he was like an adopted son to me. For a young man of that age, 22, he had an unbelievable amount of respect for all he came into contact with.

He and Carmilita were like twins and he meant the world to a lot of people, so that's why it is so devastating and shocking that this has happened.

"Love always Raymond, from the Boaz Island and Dockyard community."

Police are now appealing for witnesses and are urging anyone who saw Mr. Curtis on Friday to come forward.

They also want to hear of any sightings of a small red car in the area on Friday night and Saturday, and are keen to speak to the driver of a white car said to have been overtaken by the red car in the Black Bay area between 3 a.m. and 3.40 a.m.

Anyone with any information should contact the Serious Crime Unit at 299 4315 or the confidential CrimeStoppers hotline: 1-800-623-8477.