Woman accused in hit-and-run that left good Samaritan permanently injured faces judge; victim shares update

By Nicole Linsalata, Julian Quintana, Rubén Rosario

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    FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (WSVN) — A woman who was arrested after being accused of a hit-and-run in Fort Lauderdale that left a Good Samaritan permanently injured appeared before a judge.

Tadaijah Sade Lashone Murray is facing multiple charges, including leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury and two counts of failure to remain on the scene of an accident involving injury.

During Murray’s court appearance on Friday, prosecutors laid out their case against the 29-year-old suspect.

“The defendant got out of the vehicle and ran from police,” said Assistant State Attorney Ross Weiner. “She caused a crash where she rear-ended another vehicle. She then fled the crash scene with her toddler in the vehicle.”

According to Fort Lauderdale Police, the incident happened on Aug. 11, along the 2300 block of Sistrunk Boulevard.

The good Samaritan, 31-one-year-old Yevhenii Arsirii, said he was helping push a disabled car off the road when the suspect’s car struck both him and the car he was assisting.

“I was pushing the car with other person, saw light and, I guess, other guy jumped out, and I didn’t,” said Arsirii. “I looked at my legs, and I couldn’t feel them.”

Arsirii spoke to 7News on Thursday after police made the arrest, as he recovers from multiple surgeries at Broward Health Medical Center. He said he saw the suspect immediately after he was hit.

“And then I looked at her, and then she said, ‘What am I supposed to do now?’” he said.

Detectives said what Murray was supposed to do was stay and wait for officers. Instead, they said, she jumped out of her car and ran away.

“The day after the crash, the defendant informed her relative that her vehicle was stolen, but somehow, she still had the keys to the car in her hand,” said Weiner. “During a search of the defendant’s vehicle, there was a bottle of tequila in the vehicle that was two-thirds consumed, and the defendant’s license had been suspended since July of that year.”

Police said Arsirii, who did not know the driver of the disabled cars but stopped to help, was severely injured and transported to Broward Health Medical Center by Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.

Arsirii lost part of his right leg and underwent nine surgeries. His doctors are struggling to save his left leg.

“So far right now, we are treating another infection, and I’m with a bag of antibiotics conected for a month,” said Arsirii.

Police said they spent four months searching for Murray.

“Since this case was filed in August, the defendant has actively eluded law enforcement, and then, yesterday she was pulled over – the vehicle, she was a passenger and was pulled over as a result of a traffic stop,” said Weiner. “As the vehicle was pilled over, again, the defendant bailed out of the vehicle and fled on foot and was later apprehended.”

The presiding judge set Murray’s bond to over a quarter million dollars.

Wehn asked whether Murray crossed his mand over these past few months, Arsirii replied, “Yes, pretty much every time when you have to move from the wheelchair to the toilet, from the toilet seat to the shower suite, and then shower, put your leg in a plastic bag, cover everything up. That’s when she comes to mind.”

When asked what he would say to her if he had the chance, Arsirii said, “I would tell the story from the beginning — what I feel, what I was experiencing. I would explain to her everything.”

If she pays her bond, Murray will be fitted with a GPS ankle monitor.

Arsirii said he still faces many medical and financial challenges.

His family has set up a GoFundMe to help cover the cost of medical expenses and rehabilitation.

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