Son Of Delaware Woman Killed In Hit-Run Speaks Out
By Ben Simmoneau
WILMINGTON, Del. (CBS) -- The son of a wheelchair-bound Delaware woman who police say was run over by three different vehicles Tuesday night is calling on those drivers to turn themselves in. Police say all three did not stop.
"If you did this, if it was an accident, it was an accident, but don't just drive away from the woman," said Jeremy McFarland.
He says his mother Edith McFarland, 58, was a caring person who did her best to help her family and those around her.
"We didn't have very much anyway, but she'd give anybody what she had," he said.
McFarland was killed around 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday as she tried to cross South Market Street, also known as Route 13, in Wilmington. She appeared to be taking groceries home to the nearby Fairview Inn, where neighbors say she moved three months ago with her son and two grandchildren.
Delaware State Police say she was initially hit by a gold colored truck or SUV. That vehicle is believed to have front-end damage.
"After she was struck by that vehicle, she was ejected from the wheelchair into the southbound lanes, and then she was struck by two additional vehicles," said State Police Sergeant Paul Shavack. "One vehicle is unconscionable. Three vehicles is unthinkable."
"I just think it's cruel," said Robin Smith, who also lives at the motel and knows McFarland. "How can you hit somebody in a wheelchair and keep going?"
Smith says McFarland was in the wheelchair because she lost a leg in a hit and run accident two decades ago. She says that accident happened just a few miles down Route 13, near Route 40.
Police do not have a description of either the second or third vehicles, but they say they are still interviewing witnesses. Anyone with information is asked to call Delaware State Police.
"I pray to God that whoever hit her, their heart would be so heavy that they would turn themselves in and there would be justice for her family," said Smith. "They killed that woman. They killed her and kept going."
