A Florida dad of three was killed when he bravely tried to stop a couple fighting by the roadside moments after he dropped his daughter off for the first day of school
Daryl Alexander Hill, 56, was allegedly shot dead by Raul Vazquez, 26, at around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday after he tried to break up the broad daylight dust-up in Apopka, Fla., the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.
Vazquez and a woman had been fighting in their pick-up truck, which caused their vehicle to crash into a black SUV, and the brawl spilled outside, according to an arrest affidavit seen by The Apopka Chief.
Hill was riding on his motorbike after dropping his daughter, 10, off at Wolf Lake Elementary, and rushed over when he spotted the fight.
Hill and the couple brawled and fell into the bushes before the dad tried to flee the scene.
Vazquez allegedly shot Hill in the back after grabbing a gun from his car, horrifying witnesses.
“Help,” Hill shouted before being shot.
Ryan Harper, who was driving his kids to school, said he saw a body in the road after hearing a “loud bang,” WKMG reported.
“It’s pretty traumatizing for us all,” he said.
“Mr. Hill was simply trying to help someone who appeared to be in distress,” Orange County cops said as they revealed Vazquez had been arrested on a second-degree murder charge.
Hill’s wife of 17 years, Suzanne, was tracking his location on her cell phone when he was shot – and the lack of movement raised concern.
“When his phone remained in the same position for an hour and he didn’t answer, I went home to check on him, and I saw the crime scene unit,” she told WESH.
“I didn’t see the scene, thank God, but I saw the detectives and confirmed my worst nightmare.”
Hill was pronounced dead at a local hospital less than an hour after the shooting.
Suzanne has led the tributes to her late husband – who was also a dad to two adult children. Orange County cops described him as a “Good Samaritan.”
“He was just an incredible, kind, giving, caring, loving person to everybody,” she told Spectrum News.
“Friend, family and stranger: he cared for everybody and helped everybody and always stepped in, which I think is ultimately what took his life.”
Family friend Camil Reyes described Hill’s killing as a “reflection of the kind of person he was and the heart he had for others.”
“Daryl was loved by so many,” Reyes wrote on a GoFundMe profile. “He had a contagious personality, an incredible sense of humor, and a way of bringing laughter and joy to the people around him. His presence will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and everyone whose life was touched by knowing him.”
Maria Vasquez, the Orange County Public Schools superintendent, described Hill as a “ray of sunshine to his family and those around him, active in the school community and quick to help with any request.”
“To lose a family member so suddenly and tragically is extremely difficult, especially for his family and friends,” Vasquez said.
Vazquez is being held in Orange County jail, where he faces a second-degree murder charge. The alleged killer, seen wearing a white prison suit during his perp walk, scowled as he was led to a car.
His rap sheet includes two previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, but his bond was revoked.
