It was a summer morning last July when 64-year-old Mairi Morrison set out for her daily walk, not knowing it would be her last.
Surveillance video shows a USPS mail truck pulling out of a gas station in Kensington, Maryland, right as Morrison was crossing the driveway.
After the USPS driver hit Morrison, he kept driving forward for 4 seconds and then backed up for 6 seconds, all with her body still underneath the van, according to court documents.
“I feel her loss every single day and I try not to imagine, but it’s not easy, how painful and horrific her death ended up being,” Morrison’s sister, Catriona Morrison, told News4 by phone.
The driver of the mail truck was 26-year-old Oscar Pedrozo from Silver Spring. Montgomery County prosecutors have now charged him with criminally negligent manslaughter, a misdemeanor.
Court documents show Pedrozo told police in an interview he heard a thump and felt a vibration, and thought someone ran into him.
He admitted he had earbuds in and was listening to music, but he said the volume was low and that he could still hear his surroundings.
Ah yes, the old earbud issue. The USPS used to be hot about this issue, but as they burned through new hires ( over half quit) they just threw up their hands. Now you see carriers everywhere wearing them, even in the office along with the clerks. Some of these people would quit if they couldn’t wear them.