10:25 AM PDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2004

By TRICIA MANNING-SMITH / KING 5 News

KENT. Wash. - He overcame political persecution, and life on the run as a refugee to rise as a respected teacher in a Seattle community, only to be killed by a hit-and-run driver.

KING Mulugeta Endale

For nearly nine months, the family of Mulugeta Endale suffered by his bedside, as he lay in a coma after a hit-and-run driver struck him in front of his own apartment.

His needless death is all the more tragic because of all the hardships he overcame to get to America. Endale survived a Sudanese refugee camp, after fleeing political persecution in his homeland of Ethiopia.

Then about 20 years ago, his life began anew when he came to Seattle. Endale became an author and a respected teacher at Seattle's Ingraham High School.

He nurtured other Ethiopian family members who followed in his footsteps. And at 42, Endale was about to get married for the first time. Instead, he spent his intended wedding day unconscious in a hospital.

“It's my hope there might be some people who saw this incident,” said his brother Abebe Endale. “I wish they'd come and help us bring this person to justice.”

Police said he was struck by what is described as a white, or light 80’s model Buick Regal or possibly a Cutlass Supreme.

There is a $1,000 reward for information about driver. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CRIME13.