The victim’s mother identified him at the scene, Witcher said.
Officials have not located the driver of the vehicle that struck Pierce and said the incident remains under investigation.
The suspect is believed to be a male who was wearing jeans and a short sleeve shirt at the time of the accident, officials said, adding that he was driving either a silver Dodge Intrepid or a silver Mercedes Benz.
Customers at Wayside Tavern said the man was inside the bar playing pool for about a half hour and was struck moments after he went outside.
Bar Patron L.B. Haynes, 58, of Springfield said Pierce was bleeding from his nose, mouth and ears when she and another patron found him outside.
Haynes said the unidentified patron performed CPR on Pierce as she checked for a pulse before emergency crews arrived.
“I could feel a pulse until the squad got here and then he was gone,” Haynes said.
Haynes said customers at the bar did not witness the accident and no one there knew Pierce. But she said she and another bar patron did what they could to help him.
“I just wanted him to be alive.”
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