VIRGINIA BEACH, Va (WVEC) – The family of the 73-year old victim in an alleged drunk hit-and-run said she lived her life with a focus on “forgiveness.”
Sherry Mclachlan said her mother, Maria Fox, was a woman of faith who would often pray for others under the ‘Blessing Tree’ outside her Virginia Beach home.
“She would hold their hands and pray for them under this tree,” Mclachlan said. “And she would come out here and sit every morning and pray.”
Fox would pray about others and her family, Mclachlan explained. She moved from Puerto Rico with her husband and has been in Virginia Beach for 48 years.
She excelled at her long tenured job at STIHL, and would later make her eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild in her life.
“I still can’t believe she’s not here,” Mclachlan cried. “She was the one I’d call every day.”
Fox was struck and killed by a drunk driver on N Great Neck Road at the intersection of River Road, according to Virginia Beach Police.
Police said the suspect, Anthony Spence, fled the scene, but he was later arrested and taken to the hospital for injuries.
Friends told 13News Now that Fox died of blunt force trauma to the head. She had just finished spending time with her daughter’s family at her house.
"They asked her to stay to spend the night and she was like no, no, no. I want to go home and she was very stubborn about that," Mclachlan said. “She was so healthy, she had no health issues. It’s just not fair.”
The family said they eventually want to see a traffic light at the intersection where the fatal crash happened.
“The speed limit is 45 mph. They go a lot faster than that. And at nighttime, you can’t see,” Mclachlan said.
For now, the family said they are focusing on what the mother taught them their whole lives.
“To forgive,” Mclachlan said. "I will forgive him, but he can't get away with doing this."
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