SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) -- The widow of a former U.S. Marine killed in a hit-and-run accident wants her husband buried with honor.
Deryck Bacon, 59, was homeless and sleeping on the sidewalk two months ago off Normal Street when a driver veered off the road and ran over him.
“I always thought I would see him again and death is so final, that's never going to happen,” said Karen Castro, Bacon’s common-law wife. “Him dying alone, that's what really bothers me.”
Police tracked down the driver, who claimed she left the scene of accident because she didn't know she had struck a person.
The case remains under investigation, San Diego police confirmed to News 8, and no criminal charges have been filed.
Castro, who resides in College Grove, believes the driver should be held accountable.
“How can you hit and run somebody and it not be criminal?” Castro said.
“You get out, see about the person, call the ambulance and do something. You don't just run over him and leave him lying there,” the 63-year-old said.
Bacon grew up in New Hampshire, played high school football and joined the Marines right out of high school, according to his widow.
“He was 18 and he wanted to make a lifetime career out of the Marine Corps. Sometimes we would even sing the Marine Corps theme song,” she recalled.
But Bacon's military career would only last two years.
His widow says Bacon was granted a Section Eight discharge after being diagnosed with schizophrenia.
“He didn't want to take his medication and that was the beginning of the end,” she said.
Despite his mental illness, Bacon worked as a cook to support Castro and her two children. She last visited with the former Marine about 10 months ago, she said.
“He took upon himself a woman and two children. They were halfway grown when he came into our lives,” Castro said.
Bacon would sometimes talk to himself because of his illness. He eventually hit the streets and became homeless, according to his widow.
The couple was never married, though they were both Catholics. They wanted to tie the knot but decided against it for financial reasons.
“What we discovered was they would cut our social security if we got married, which is sad,” Castro said.
Castro prefers to remember the good times they spent together, including traveling and cooking together.
She's still waiting for the medical examiner to release Bacon’s remains.
Most of all, Castro wants to bury her Marine with honor, even though she can't afford it.
“He was an only child and he died alone and that's what makes me sad,” she said.
News 8 contacted the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office and the U.S. Marine Corps to try and get help for Castro.
She recently contact the Marine Corp’s Military Funeral Honors division for assistance as well.
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