Two Sad Outcomes

Last Sunday afternoon,  Beverly Moore, 68, who lived on Bourbon Court not too far from us in the Seven Courts development, was still with us in this vale.  But on Sunday evening, not long after the Ravens finished their game in New England, Mrs Moore, a widow, was crossing Seven Courts Drive, having left the Weis Supermarket with some groceries.  A driver stopped to allow her to cross the busy street.  Another driver, as yet unidentified, swerved around that other car and struck Mrs Moore, who died on the scene.  According to the Perry Hall Patch, the vehicle that hit her was a light colored four-door Ford 500 sedan, with damage to the right front bumper, the right headlight and possibly the hood and right front panel.  

Of course, the first thing you think is, it was right after the football game ended, and maybe this person had a few pops and should not have been driving anyway.  But who knows that for sure?  The only thing we know with certainty is that someone hit this poor lady and then did not stop, or turn themselves in since.

And I wonder, how do you live with that on your mind?  On one level, do you stay at home behind drawn curtains, flinching every time a car drives up your street?  Do you recoil in fear when you see a police car or a plain Ford sedan?  Does your heart flip when the phone rings?  Have you awakened every morning since Monday saying, today could be the day?  You know the cops will be coming for you.  It's not if, but when.   

Or could it be that a person who would drive off from such a thing has no conscience to bother him or her?

And Mrs Moore was but the first person killed in traffic this week in Baltimore County, but the circumstances of the second fatality were far different.  On Tuesday, a man reported that two burglars had run out of his house in the north County.  Police spotted them and were following along.  At Jarrettsville Pike and Merrymans Mill Rd, the driver stopped to let his passenger (and presumed fellow burglar) Jenard Toliver out of the car.  

(Can you imagine that conversation, as they rocketed through the streets of Jacksonville?  "You can just let me out here, dude....yeah...this is fine...just slow down to 60 and I'll just roll right out...see ya...")

Remains of stolen Honda

Without his passenger, the driver, later identified as Aaron Nathaniel McCoy, Jr, careered down the Pike in a stolen Honda, and stayed on the same road as it became Dulaney Valley Rd. (We do that a lot with our streets here for the convenience of felons: stay on the same road and it changes names as you proceed.)  McCoy's life ended at 20 as he evaded police, clipped a Jeep Cherokee near Ivy Church Rd and hit a pole straight on.  There was also a large pickup truck involved in the pileup, but fortunately no one was seriously injured.  McCoy, whose criminal career began at 16 and included escapades with firearms and armed robberies, died on the scene. 

Two dead in Baltimore County traffic accidents. Both preventable, both memorable, both sad.