The sun was out and birds were chirping as Suzanne Hill, a 58-year-old Atlanta resident, was preparing for a normal day Saturday morning.
On her way to her restaurant job, Hill pulled out of her driveway and stopped so she could get out to close the chain-link gate to her house.
As she was locking the gate, a figure bolted from behind her, jumped in the driver’s seat of her car and slammed the door shut, doorbell video footage shows.
Hill ran to the door of the car, shouting at him to get out. A gunshot can be heard in the footage.
“He swung the car into Suzanne, knocking her to the ground, and he ran her over reversing,” her husband, Michael Hill, 55, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. “Then as he drove forward, he ran over her a second time.”
Suzanne Hill is in the hospital being treated for a laundry list of injuries: a fractured skull, two broken shoulder blades, a broken collarbone, a broken right wrist, multiple fractures on both sides of her ribs, a broken pelvis and compound fractures of the tibia and fibula in both legs.
“Fortunately, no brain trauma and no internal organ injury,” her husband said. “So that’s something to be thankful for. They have operated on her legs and put pins in, but she’s going to be non-weight-bearing for at least two months, and they operated on her shoulder yesterday. So it’s gonna be a long road to recovery.”
Credit: Michael Hill
Credit: Michael Hill
Michael said he learned what happened to his wife while he was at his contracting job, after seeing many missed calls. His heart sank.
“You think worst-case scenario, wondering what’s happened,” he said. “It was a malicious act. So yeah, I’m still shaking. It doesn’t feel real, but obviously, it is.”
Two suspects — a 20-year-old man identified as Courtney Hall and 15-year-old boy — were found a few hours later in Suzanne’s Mazda by Atlanta police with the help of a tracker in her car, according to a news release. After a short pursuit resulting in the car crashing and ending in a foot chase, they were arrested and taken to the Fulton County Jail and Metro Regional Youth Detention Center, respectively. Both were charged with armed robbery.
Credit: Michael Hill
Credit: Michael Hill
Michael said he has no words for the arrested men.
“I’m trying to focus on my wife and getting her better,” he said.
A friend set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses. As of Wednesday evening, the fundraiser had amassed nearly $27,000 with more than 300 donations.
“No one deserves this to happen, but especially Suzanne,” organizer Tory Soesbe said on the page. “She is one of the most generous, caring and helpful people I know.”
They don’t have health insurance, Michael said, and Suzanne will be unable to work for an undetermined amount of time while she recovers. Michael is not working right now so he can be there for his wife.
“We’re just totally overwhelmed by the support from everybody,” he said. “It’s just been truly overwhelming.”
Credit: Michael Hill
Credit: Michael Hill
The couple, who are celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary this year, have had to make some changes to their plans. They were going to Peru for Suzanne’s 59th birthday in November and had to cancel, but Michael said he is just happy she’s alive.
“She’s still here,” he said. “That’s the main thing.”
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