Georgia man travels 2 days to hear fate of hit-and-run driver who killed his Syracuse brother

Anthony Tony Gary, of Syracuse

Anthony "Tony" Gary, of Syracuse.

Syracuse, NY — Johnny Gary, of Georgia, hadn’t been to Syracuse since a hit-and-run driver killed his brother, Anthony, in August 2019.

But Johnny Gary knew he had to make the nearly 1,000-mile journey Tuesday to attend sentencing for the man who drove off after killing Anthony “Tony” Gary, 55.

He took an Amtrak from his home in Georgia, transferring in New York City, to be in a Syracuse courtroom by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The trip by train took 25 hours, he said. Roundtrip fare will be nearly $900, and he got no financial help.

“It was a hardship,” Johnny Gary said of the trip. “But I knew I had to be here. My family is devastated.”

Charles Lunderman, 45, of the hamlet of Marietta in Marcellus, kept driving to work after striking and killing Tony Gary around 9:30 p.m. Aug. 30, 2019. His father called him at work to say police were looking for him, and Lunderman turned himself in.

Lunderman later told police he thought he might have struck debris -- maybe a bicycle -- in the road.

A police report found that Tony Gary -- a disabled man -- had been standing in the middle of South Avenue, yelling profanities and physically attacking cars driving by. There’s a good chance that Lunderman didn’t even see him before the crash, the police report concluded.

But that didn’t excuse the fact that Lunderman should have known that he struck someone before driving off. So he pleaded guilty in March to felony leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash without reporting.

RELATED: Marietta driver who left scene after striking, killing South Side pedestrian avoids jail

Lunderman avoided jail under terms of the plea agreement reached earlier this year. Instead, he was sentenced Tuesday to five years on probation.

Charles Lunderman

Charles Lunderman leaves court after pleading guilty to leaving the scene of a crash that killed a 55-year-old Syracuse man.

After a long discussion in March, County Court Judge Thomas J. Miller approved the plea deal worked out between prosecutor Frank Pelosi and defense lawyer Scott Brenneck.

Johnny Gary knew that Lunderman would avoid jail before coming to town for sentencing. That was not something that his family could control, he said. So after praying about it, Johnny Gary and his multiple siblings decided to move forward in peace.

In court, Johnny Gary was joined by his lifelong friend, Greg Walker. The Garys had grown up with Walker in the South. They’d been friends for more than 40 years.

Greg Walker had moved to Syracuse first. Tony Gary came up to live with him on Merriman Avenue. Tony had only been in Syracuse eight or nine months before his death. He lived on a social security disability check.

In court, Walker left the talking to Johnny Gary. The grieving brother barely spoke for one minute. He talked about depression and devastation that Tony’s death had caused their large family so far away.

Johnny Gary talked about his difficulty in arranging travel. He spoke softly and calmly.

“I had to show my support for my brother, just to be here for him,” Johnny Gary told the court.

And now he’ll get back on another Amtrak train and begin his 25-hour journey home. But he was there. And that’s all he needed.

Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.

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