‘She doesn’t deserve this’: Heartbroken family demands answers in deadly hit and run

“My first feeling was just numb,” Thompson said. “Just couldn’t believe. Just wondering why she couldn’t cross two minutes before or two minutes after.”
Metro Nashville police are searching for an Infiniti SUV that officers said hit a woman and left her to die in the median of Murfreesboro Pike this week.
Published: Nov. 3, 2023 at 5:50 PM CDT
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Metro Nashville police are searching for an Infiniti SUV that officers said hit a woman and left her to die in the median of Murfreesboro Pike earlier this week.

The family of Denise “Eileen” Gordon said they were heartbroken to hear she was found lying in the grass around 5:45 a.m. Monday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Woman found dead in Nashville median

Gordon was walking across the street from the bus stop on her way home from working the overnight shift, her brother Carl Thompson said. She is from Jamaica and moved to Nashville in July for a temporary job at a hotel.

“My first feeling was just numb,” Thompson said. “Just couldn’t believe. Just wondering why she couldn’t cross two minutes before or two minutes after.”

Thompson said he talked with his older sister on Sunday night before she went to work. He was the one to get a call from the medical examiner on Wednesday when she had been identified.

PHOTOS: Driver sought after woman found dead in Nashville median

That phone call keeps playing over and over in Thompson’s mind as he tries to process what has happened. He said they had a very large family, including two daughters Gordon had with her husband, who is in disbelief.

“She’s one person who always helped people,” Thompson said. “If she finds a dollar in a spot, she would try to encourage other people to walk that same route to find another dollar. That’s the way she is. Always helpful.”

Thompson said Gordon’s daughters are on their way to the U.S. from Jamaica now and they are planning on having a funeral back in their home country after they can get closure in this case.

“I really hope we can get some closure by finding and putting that coward to justice,” Thompson said about the driver. “One of the things I think about is if she had gone to the hospital five minutes or 10 minutes earlier, the outcome would’ve been much different.”

Anyone with information regarding the fatal crash is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.