Memorial honours hit-and-run victim

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This article was published 09/08/2017 (3348 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The victim of the hit-and-run crash in St. Boniface last week is a mother and grandmother who was killed just days before her 62nd birthday.

In an obituary in the Winnipeg Free Press, Marlene Eusanio is described as “a caring soul and kind and giving friend” who loved her husband Jean-Louis, sons Jason and Trevor, four grandchildren, her dogs and her garden.

Eusanio died last Thursday when she was hit at about 11:45 a.m. on Marion Street as she got out of her vehicle by someone driving a stolen pickup truck pulling a stolen trailer.

After hitting Eusanio, the driver fled the scene in the stolen truck and trailer. Police recovered both the next day, abandoned in St. Boniface.

Police reached out to the public on Tuesday in an effort to find the driver. Police are asking anyone who may have video footage of the incident on a dash camera in a vehicle or in several areas the vehicle was spotted to contact the central traffic unit at 204-986-6271 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

Const. Jay Murray said investigators want to speak with anyone who might be able to assist them with a description or the identity of the driver.

“This pedestrian was exiting a vehicle at the time of the incident and the driver of this vehicle would know and have known that they hit somebody,” Murray said.

“This wasn’t a case of somebody getting hit by a trailer and driver not knowing about it. We believe that this driver fully knows what happened.”

The circumstances of Eusanio’s death have shocked the community, especially the St. Boniface neighbourhood where she died.

Her family has requested that, in lieu of a public service, people contribute flowers to “the growing memorial” at 259 Marion St.

Eusanio’s obituary stated that she had been married for 18 years to “soul mate and partner in crime in husband Jean-Louis” and that “Jean-Louis’ unwavering love and support of Marlene’s dreams demonstrates the depth of their commitment to one another.”

The obituary states she was “an immensely proud mother of sons” Jason and Trevor MacKenzie.

She was born in Washington, D.C., in 1955 and lived in Cape Town, South Africa, Montreal, Que., and Kelowna, B.C., before moving to Winnipeg. Eusanio had worked in retail sales at Claire’s Accessories and at Sears in Kelowna.

The obituary said those wishing to remember Eusanio can also make a donation to a local women’s shelter.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca