In a post on X, U. S. Park Police said the incident happened Oct. 8 at around 6: 15 p. m. on Soil Conservation Road at Beaver Dam Road in Beltsville. A car hit and killed Martin, injured another person and then left the area, police said. Police are still searching for the car and driver involved, and think the car is a 2009-2014 dark blue Hyundai Genesis. It likely has a missing passenger-side mirror, damage to the passenger-side headlight and a damaged front bumper, officials said. When her husband, Mario Zometa, received the call that something had happened to his wife, he considered the possibilities. He thought maybe she was sick, or had broken bones or a concussion. He didn’t panic and figured he’d be able to take care of her. But after a few hours, Zometa learned Martin had been hit and killed while riding her bike. “That was no natural event,” Zometa said. “There was just someone who was responsible, hit her with the car and drove.” “I know it’s going to take a while to heal,” he told WTOP while sitting in his living room. “When I’m here in this room, I feel like she’s in this room.” The couple had been married for three years, and Martin has two kids. “We had plans to expand our future,” Zometa said. “Missing all this stuff is super difficult to understand how we’re going to go through everything without her.” Martin was in a group with other cyclists, and Zometa said she was the one who newcomers in the group approached about where to ride or meet to gather before riding together. The way Martin died was particularly frustrating, Zometa said, because Martin became “so furious” about how close some drivers would get to cyclists on the road. “She was furious that these people don’t respect us,” he said of his wife’s feeling of safety on the roads. Erin Bryant, one of Martin’s friends, said she worked for the Laborers’ union and always aimed to make people’s lives better. The incident, she said, is “a reminder to everyone that life is just precious.” “She was like a rock, I think, in a lot of senses, to the different communities she was a part of,” Bryant said. An online fundraiser to support Martin’s kids, a high school-aged son and a daughter in college, has raised over $75,000. “It just shows how many lives Lisa’s touched and how appalled people are that something so senseless could happen to someone so good,” Bryant said. One of Martin’s bikes is still leaning against the wall in her living room. Nearby, there are several vases with flowers. Pictures of Martin, and a printed copy of her obituary, hang on the wall above. “I’m just going to heal, little by little,” Zometa said. Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here. © 2025 WTOP. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
https://wtop.com/maryland/2025/10/riverdale-family-searching-for-answers-after-mom-wife-hit-and-killed-while-biking/
Riverdale family searching for answers after mom, wife hit and killed while biking
