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'We'll never be the same': Father of two dies in hit-and run, wife pleads for driver to come forward

Posted at 8:35 PM, Dec 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-03 23:11:33-05

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Police are searching for the driver involved in a hit-and-run that killed a father of two from Dundalk.

Mary Diffendal identifies the victim as 51-year-old Paul Burton

Diffendal is Burton's wife. She's still trying to process the tragic loss. He died just two days after Thanksgiving.

“We’ll never be the same," Diffendal said. “I never imagined anything like this."

Police say Burton was killed in a hit and run on Holabird Avenue and Kane St near Jimmy’s Seafood.

It happened around 6:30 in the morning when Diffendal says Burton was crossing the street.

“He was just struck down by a driver with a large black SUV and they kept going like he didn’t matter," she said.

Two orange circles marked during the crime scene are a painful reminder of his last moments for Diffendal.

“I can’t believe that the orange circles are the last thing I have of him. That’s the end of his life.”

Diffendal and Burton have two kids and were together for 33 years. She describes him as the love of her life and a man who was kind, loving and fun.

“You just don’t meet somebody twice like that. And the kids. He was a great dad.”

She said now he’s gone less than a month before Christmas, while driver is still out there.

Diffendal is hoping the person comes forward.

“He didn’t deserve to die like that.”

If anyone has information about the incident, police ask for you to give them a call.