COVINGTON, Ga. -- Police said a woman was killed in a hit-and-run at a Covington Walmart store Monday evening when she was run over by an assailant who tried steal her purse.
Police said 65-year-old Marsha Penn Johnson was walking through the parking lot of a Walmart store in the 10300 block of Industrial Boulevard, when they said a man reached for her purse. Covington Police Capt. Ken Malcolm said Johnson tried to fight the assailant off, but fell.
Malcolm said the assailant ran over the victim several times and fled the scene.
When asked if they thought it was intentional, Malcolm told 11Alive's Jeremy Campbell that the suspect "did not stop to render aid; and there was no way they could not have known that they had run over something, from what we saw on the video."
Store surveillance video was able to provide images of the suspect's car. Police said onlookers tried to block the assailant from leaving, but they were unable to stop him. Malcolm said police said are looking for a late-1990s to mid-2000s model silver Honda with damage on its left side. They described the suspect driving the car as a Hispanic male with goatee, in his late 20s to early 30s, and weighing between 250 and 300 pounds. The police report also mentions a Hispanic passenger witnesses saw in the suspect's car.
Johnson's friends and family tell 11Alive's Valerie Hoff she had just retired after a long career at a medical supply company in Covington. They family was already grieving; Johnson's husband passed away just a few months ago.
