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The mother of a young lawyer killed in a suspected hit-and-run has broken her silence, saying she died the moment her beloved son died.
Mitch East, 28, was found with critical head and chest injuries by a passerby in Fletcher Street, in Tamarama, just after 4am on Sunday.
The young lawyer, who was educated at Harvard Law School, is understood to have been dropped off by an Uber just moments before he was struck.
Mr East’s shattered mother has described the loss of her only child as ‘unbearable’.
‘He was my only child, my reason for living,’ she told Stuff.
‘I died when he did. The pain is unbearable. So I just can’t think straight to talk sorry.’
She described her son as a ‘a good person with a good heart’.
Mr East’s devastated family arrived in Sydney from his home country of New Zealand on Sunday to support his heartbroken partner.
Mitch East, 28, was found with critical head and chest injuries by a passerby in Fletcher Street, in Tamarama, just after 4am on Sunday
Mr East’s mother (pictured in green) said the pain of losing her son is ‘unbearable’. She is seen arriving at her son’s apartment building after travelling to Australia from New Zealand
Mr East’s mother and his girlfriend were seen outside the couple’s Fletcher Street unit on Monday as grieving friends stopped by to drop off flowers.
Mr East studied law in his home country, securing notable positions working as a senior advisor on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terrorist attack and as a solicitor at large national firm Meredith Connell.
He moved to Australia around 2022 to work for his current employer, major firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, which has an office in Sydney’s CBD.
An Arnold Bloch Leibler spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that all staff were notified about the tragedy via an email on Monday morning.
Police are still on the hunt for the driver of a white Subaru Outback which was spotted in the area on CCTV about the same time as the crash.
The young lawyer, who was educated at Harvard Law School, is understood to have been dropped off by an Uber just moments before he was struck
Police are still on the hunt for the driver of a white Subaru Outback which was spotted in the area on CCTV about the same time as the crash (pictured, officers at the scene on Monday)
NSW Police Inspector Jason Hogan urged the driver to come forward.
‘It is a cowardly act to drive away after colliding with another human,’ he told 7News.
‘They really need to attend their local police station before we knock on their door.’
Inspector Hogan said officers are canvassing local areas, businesses and transportation companies for further footage which may identify more clues.
Locals have reported hearing a car alarm going off and a loud bang around the time of the crash, with any other witnesses urged to contact police.
A GoFundMe has raised almost $90,000 for Mr East’s family as they ‘attempt to come to terms with the grief of losing someone so loved’.
A GoFundMe has raised almost $90,000 for Mr East’s family as they ‘attempt to come to terms with the grief of losing someone so loved’
