Lisa Martin, an avid cyclist and mother, was struck and killed in a hit-and-run in Beltsville, Maryland, last week. Now, police are on the case to find the driver.
In a聽 U.S. Park Police said the incident happened Oct. 8 at around 6:15 p.m. on Soil Conservation Road at Beaver Dam Road in Beltsville.
A car hit and killed Martin, injured another person and then left the area, police said.
Police are still searching for the car and driver involved, and think the car is a 2009-2014 dark blue Hyundai Genesis. It likely has a missing passenger-side mirror, damage to the passenger-side headlight and a damaged front bumper, officials said.
When her husband, Mario Zometa, received the call that something had happened to his wife, he considered the possibilities.
He thought maybe she was sick, or had broken bones or a concussion. He didn鈥檛 panic and figured he鈥檇 be able to take care of her.
But after a few hours, Zometa learned Martin had been hit and killed while riding her bike.
鈥淭hat was no natural event,鈥� Zometa said. 鈥淭here was just someone who was responsible, hit her with the car and drove.鈥�
鈥淚 know it鈥檚 going to take a while to heal,鈥� he told 草莓传媒 while sitting in his living room. “When I’m here in this room, I feel like she’s in this room.”
The couple had been married for three years, and Martin has two kids.
鈥淲e had plans to expand our future,鈥� Zometa said. 鈥淢issing all this stuff is super difficult to understand how we鈥檙e going to go through everything without her.鈥�
Martin was in a group with other cyclists, and Zometa said she was the one who newcomers in the group approached about where to ride or meet to gather before riding together.
The way Martin died was particularly frustrating, Zometa said, because Martin became 鈥渟o furious鈥� about how close some drivers would get to cyclists on the road.
“She was furious that these people don’t respect us,” he said of his wife’s feeling of safety on the roads.
Erin Bryant, one of Martin鈥檚 friends, said she worked for the Laborers鈥� union and always aimed to make people鈥檚 lives better.
The incident, she said, is 鈥渁 reminder to everyone that life is just precious.鈥�
鈥淪he was like a rock, I think, in a lot of senses, to the different communities she was a part of,鈥� Bryant said.
An to support Martin鈥檚 kids, a high school-aged son and a daughter in college, has raised over $75,000.
鈥淚t just shows how many lives Lisa鈥檚 touched and how appalled people are that something so senseless could happen to someone so good,鈥� Bryant said.
One of Martin鈥檚 bikes is still leaning against the wall in her living room. Nearby, there are several vases with flowers. Pictures of Martin, and a printed copy of her obituary, hang on the wall above.
鈥淚鈥檓 just going to heal, little by little,鈥� Zometa said.
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