Police have identified the woman who was killed after she was struck by a vehicle on I-595 just before 6:00 a.m. Wednesday.
The victim is identified as 47-year-old Marie Claude Andris.
Authorities say they believe Andris was checking on her car when she was struck by a passing vehicle:
“She was outside of the vehicle when this happened,” said Indiana Miranda, a lieutenant with FHP. “It is unknown if she was trying to pump gas or check out her vehicle (or) what was going on but she was outside at the time. Our troopers actually arrived on scene with fire rescue and pronounced one female deceased,” said Miranda.
Andris, who is a mother of six, had one of the children in the car at the time.
That child was taken to an area hospital for minor injuries.
The father of two of Andris’ children says the 4-year-old, witnessed his mother’s death:
“When I see him, I’m like, ‘how are you doing?’ And he’s like, ‘oh my mommy died. I seen my mom die, she was shaking.’ And I’m like, wow. Imagine, he’s going to grow up with that memory in his mind,” Rodney Louidor said.
An investigation is still ongoing.
Miranda has a message for drivers when their vehicle becomes disabled:
“We ask that they remain seated in their vehicles with their seatbelts on, with their hazard lights on and contact 911 or *347. We have our rangers patrolling the area and we can have a wrecker remove your vehicle from there,” she said.
She also said if you see a vehicle disabled on the side of the road, try your best to move one lane over, and if not possible, at least slow down while passing.