REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 69-year-old woman who survived a 2019 gasoline fire attack has been killed in a hit-and-run crash in Redford Township, and police are still searching for the driver.
Watch Tony Geftos' video report:
Dorothy Spinella was struck and killed while crossing the street at the intersection of Telegraph and Schoolcraft at about 11:30 PM Sunday, May 3, 2026. The vehicle that hit her did not stop.
Redford Township Police say Spinella was walking north along Telegraph when she was hit by a vehicle heading east on Schoolcraft.
Her son, Bryan Morrissey, received a call from an officer in the middle of the night.
"And then he goes, 'Well, I've got some bad news. Are you sitting down?' and that's when I was like, 'Don't tell me.' And he was like, 'Yeah, she got hit by a car,'" he says.
Morrissey said he is still searching for answers.
"I'm still trying to question why," he says. "Why was she down there that late at night?"
Spinella's death comes years after she survived a shocking attack. In 2019, she was ambushed while leaving work at the Redford Coney Island and set on fire. William Helmer was arrested and convicted in that attack, and Spinella spent months in the hospital with burns over more than 40% of her body.
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"We went through an intensive repair process after the fire."
Morrissey said his mother had been renting space from Helmer at his home. In 2023, Helmer was sentenced to 40 to 80 years in prison after he was found guilty of assault with intent to murder.
Morrissey said the loss is especially painful given what his family had already endured.
"I thought I was going to lose her then and didn't think this was going to be an outcome now," he says.
Redford Township Police have no comment because the crash remains an open investigation. Police are reviewing surveillance video but have not yet released any images.
Morrissey is now asking anyone with information about Sunday night's hit-and-run to contact police. He has also launched an online fundraiser to help cover his mother's funeral expenses.
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