Little Girl's Heartbreaking Discovery after Her Father is Killed in Road Rage Incident

Lily Flemming, 6, is pictured here with her daddy, Derek Flemming, described by relatives as a family guy whose top priorities were Lily and his son, Julian, 8, and his wife, Amy. (Photo: Derek Flemming Memorial Facebook page)

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Lily Flemming thought her daddy was made of iron.

She found out Tuesday – crushingly, heartbreakingly and excruciatingly, just two days before her sixth birthday – that it was not so.

Daddy – Derek Flemming, 43 – was felled in a deadly case of road rage near Howell as he and Lily’s mother, Amy, were on their way to pick up their two kids – Lily and her brother, 8-year-old Julian – after their first day at school.

“Today is our beautiful daughter’s birthday,” Amy Flemming posted in an agonizingly difficult-to-read status update on a Facebook page established in her husband’s memory. “My heart aches in so many ways. Yesterday she told my mom that ‘a bullet killed Daddy. I thought he was made of iron.’

“Oh how horrible that young, innocent minds have to learn the reality that their parents are not invincible. I know Derek will be with us today celebrating the life of our daughter. I wish he could be here physically. With all my being I wish that.”

Flemming’s alleged killer, Martin E. Zale, 69, of Marion Township, was charged with open murder Thursday and is being held without bond at the Livingston County Jail pending his preliminary examination.

“Yesterday we celebrated our daughter’s sixth birthday. At the same time we are planning Derek’s funeral. I can’t believe my children will have to grow up without their father. He won’t be around to play catch with our son or walk our daughter down the aisle one day. Mr. Zale stole those moments from our family.” – Amy Flemming

Authorities allege Zale shot Flemming in the face while the two motorists were waiting for a stoplight to change. Witnesses said Zale passed Flemming’s as the two were traveling eastbound on Grand River about 3:35 p.m. Tuesday, sped in front of him, and then repeatedly braked. When they reached the traffic light at Chilson and Grand River in Genoa Township, not far from downtown Howell, Flemming got out of his own vehicle and approached Zale to ask what was up.

Witnesses reported they heard the two arguing, the crack of a gunshot and Amy Flemming’s anguished cry, according to an account of the fatal encounter in the Livingston Daily Press & Argus.

» Listen to 911 calls on The Detroit News.

“You can’t shoot someone because you’re not happy with them,” Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt said in a news conference announcing the charges Thursday, the Detroit Free Press reports. He alleged Zale didn’t act in self-defense, and said gun rights aren’t an issue in the case.

“It’s about how they use the weapons,” Vailliencourt said. “I fully support the right of individuals to keep and possess firearms, but it’s when they misuse those weapons that it becomes a problem.”

‘I Wish I Could Go Back’

In addition to the murder charge, Zale is charged with two counts of felony firearm and discharge of a weapon from a motor vehicle. The Flemming family’s lawyer, William Moore, said the charges are “a first day toward justice.”

In a statement released by Moore Friday, Amy Flemming praised Livingston County authorities for pursuing murder charges against Zale.

“Yesterday we celebrated our daughter’s sixth birthday,” she said. “At the same time we are planning Derek’s funeral. I can’t believe my children will have to grow up without their father. He won’t be around to play catch with our son or walk our daughter down the aisle one day. Mr. Zale stole those moments from our family.”

Elayne Flemming, the victim’s mother, said she hopes Zale, who she described as “coldhearted” and lacking in conscience, “rots in prison for the rest of his life.”

“He looks like a madman, like he had no remorse,” Elayne Flemming told the Free Press. “My son did not deserve to die that way.”

Amy Flemming wishes that she could turn back time and stop her husband from confronting Zale, who she said nearly struck their Ford Escape when he careened onto the highway from a side road.

“I know that there are no words that can make any of this easier for you or them, but please know that we are all praying for you and your entire family. Such a lewd and senseless act against a defenseless man, I am so incredibly sorry for your loss.” – Dawn Maroudis Andrews

“I wish I could go back,” she said. “I would have kept him in the car. Regardless, Derek didn’t deserve to die like that … I beg the prosecutor to make sure Mr. Zale stays in jail. I also know Mr. Zale’s actions have affected his family and my heart breaks for them to. He forever destroyed two families that day with his actions.”

The memorial Facebook page, which had 1,500 likes Friday afternoon, has become a forum for family, friends and strangers to grieve, offer outpourings of support and vent their horror about Flemming’s untimely death.

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“My heart is broken for you and your children,” Dawn Maroudis Andrews posted. “I know that there are no words that can make any of this easier for you or them, but please know that we are all praying for you and your entire family. Such a lewd and senseless act against a defenseless man, I am so incredibly sorry for your loss.”

I don’t think there is a single corner of our little community of Howell that hasn’t been touched by this senseless tragedy,” Tracy Str posted. “Words can’t express the heartache I feel for your family. …”

“If the other residents of this area are anything like me, this has impacted us all,” wrote Ed Altounian, a married father of a 3-year-old.

How to Help the Family with Funeral Expenses

As if by design to make perusing the Facebook page less painful, dozens of photos of happy family occasions are posted, chronicling a short life of a man whose mother said “had the patience of gold” and “lived for those kids.”

“He was happy with his wife. He was a great friend. ... He always had a smile and he had the most beautiful blue eyes,” she said.

Brian Flemming described his cousin to the Free Press as “a family man,” but also the life of the party.

“It’s tough,” he said. “I grew up with him. He was a family man. He had a great sense of humor and he was always the life of the room, cracking jokes and making people laugh.”

Brian Flemming set up memorial fund on GoFundMe to offset funeral and burial expenses. More than $10,300 was raised in a day.

“The cost of the funeral is pretty prohibitive right now,” he said. “This all happened really fast. So far, people have been incredibly generous. It’s overwhelming. Even complete strangers are reaching out. We’re just completely blown away.”

Funeral services are pending.