Search continues for driver involved in deadly hit-and-run in Marion County

Husband of victim to put up sign, 'Do you know who killed my wife'

MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Nearly a week after a woman was killed crossing Northeast 25th Avenue near Ocala, the search continues for the person responsible.

Christine Sullivan, 72, was walking home from a neighbor's house a little before 7:30 p.m. Saturday when she and her neighbor, Eileen Tillery, were hit by a car.

Sullivan was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center where she was later pronounced dead. Tillery is still recovering after several broken bones, and was moved out of the intensive care unit Wednesday.

Sullivan's husband, Patrick, still remembers waking up to the sound of a trooper knocking on his door.

"And then I looked and I saw her shoe laying in the road, and I knew," he said. "Eileen and her were walking back across here and they were both hit. My wife was killed right here at the end of the driveway. Every time I drive out of here, I drive over where she was killed."

News 6 spoke with Tillery over the phone as she continued to recover at the hospital.

"It's just a sad situation," she said. "I've got a long way to go; I still can't get out of bed."

Her son, Jerry Mirsky, is relieved she is continuing to recover after he was initially told her mother was seriously injured. Mirksy, along with Sullivan, are now channeling their grief into their drive to try to figure out who was behind the wheel of that car.

"There was a death, somebody died," Mirsky said. "How could you not stop? How do you not turn yourself in afterwards?"

Sullivan is putting up a large poster in front of his yard which reads: "DO YOU KNOW WHO KILLED MY WIFE ON 12-22-18 AT 7:25 PM? HIT AND RUN AT THIS LOCATION"

"How dare you leave my wife on the side of the road like a piece of garbage," he said. "If you have any decency, come forward."

Sullivan plans to put up the sign after his wife's funeral Friday, which is set for 11 a.m. at First Free Will Baptist Church of Ocala at 2210 N.E. 24th St.

Sullivan has already raised more than $11,000 in donations to go toward a reward.

Information and tips can be given to the Florida Highway Patrol by calling 800-387-1290 or Crime Stoppers of Marion County at 352-369-6880.


About the Author:

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

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