A GoFundMe is set up to help Angeletta Sheppard's family with funeral expenses.
The family of a woman killed in a Galloway Township hit-and-run is wondering why the man accused of fleeing the scene was not jailed.
Darrell Dean, 61, already had a history of driving on a suspended license when he allegedly fled after striking pedestrian Angeletta Sheppard, 30, 8 p.m. Sept. 12 on westbound Route 30 near Seventh Avenue.
The vehicle was found nearby with crack cocaine inside but the driver had fled, according to the charges.
Dale was arrested five days later, and released on a summons.
"I think he is a risk to himself and the people around him by being free," said Sheppard's sister-in-law, Alyson Hastings. "They should have never allowed him to walk away from this. It is really a shame that people can not only commit several crimes but leave the scene and have no immediate repercussions."
Hastings has set up a GoFundMe page for the family to help with the sudden funeral expenses.
The Barnegat woman, known as Lea to loved ones, leaves behind "a beautiful 6-year-old daughter who still doesn’t understand she will never see her mother again," said Sheppard's sister Angel Ramirez.
Lea was one of eight siblings, including five boys. Only three sisters remain, Ramirez said. The family was still grieving another sister lost to medical complications in December 2022.
"She lit up any room with her gorgeous, dimpled, infectious smile and loved to make everyone laugh," Ramirez said of her younger sister. "My family and I are very heartbroken this man was let go on a summons after leaving her to die.
"We don’t understand how he could be free after so many previous violations, having crack cocaine in the car and having no regard for a person's life, and just leaving her," she continued. "It hurts so bad thinking her last breath was taken in the middle of the street, left there like an animal by what was the real animal, Darrell Dean."
