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Patricio G. Balona
A 42-year-old Florida man was kneeling down at a roadside memorial last week, taking to his department friend, as he’d done for two years, when a hit-and-run driver ran the mourner over, killing him, friends and family said.
Michael Berry, of Sanford, Florida, died at the same spot where his friend Mike Roscoe was run over on Oct. 23, 2021, after he fell from his motorcycle onto the traffic lanes of State Road 415. The two vehicles that hit Roscoe fled the scene.
Florida Highway Patrol investigators said Berry was kneeling in a grass median APPROXWHERE when a vehicle that was northbound, ran off the road about 9:30 p.m. on April 12 and hit Berry.
“That’s how he would talk to him, kneeling down,” said Berry’s brother Carl Anthony Smith.
Smith used to accompany his brother occasionally when he visited the memorial.
Troopers said they have no information on the vehicle or the driver.
“We are really devastated and heartbroken,” said Kendra Cassidy, who set up a GoFundMe page to help Berry’s family with his funeral.
Kendra Cassidy and her husband, Shad Cassidy, were friends with Berry for 10 years but “he was more like family,” she said.
Devastating loss
Amy Elam, who was Roscoe’s partner, said Berry and Roscoe loved the outdoors and when Roscoe passed, Berry was devastated, she said.
Elam said she knew Berry often visited Roscoe’s roadside memorial in Osteen.
“They were best friends, I would say more like brothers to each other,” Elam said.
Shad and Kendra Cassidy said when Berry visited the memorial, he would “talk to him about life, family, his dreams, and how much he missed his friend.”
Berry enjoyed fishing but most of all he loved spending his free time with his family and being a role model to his stepson, Kendra Cassidy said.
“It was a big honor for him (Berry) to take up the role of father for his stepson,” she said. “He was pretty much a father to him.”
Shad Cassidy said Berry was the main provider for his family and his death has put his fiancee and children at risk of losing their home and vehicle. That’s why he and his wife set up the GoFundMe page asking for help so Berry’s family can pay rent and their car payment.
‘Do the right thing’
“This tragedy has brought us all great pain, and we know that there is a chance we will never know who is responsible for his death, and therefore have no closure,” Shad Cassidy said.
Like the FHP investigators, friends and family are hoping someone witnessed the crash and will provide traffic homicide investigators with leads.
Smith said the driver who fled should come forward and let authorities know who she or he is.
“Just have a heart and do the right thing,” Smith said.
The crash that killed Berry is under investigation and troopers are asking anyone with information to call the Florida Highway Patrol at 407-737-2213 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS(8477).
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