Friend riding next to woman who fell off motorcycle: ‘You can't un-see what we saw'

Man defends driver of motorcycle that Teal Starr, 22, slipped off on I-295

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Watching a woman die last month when she fell off the back of a motorcycle on Interstate 295 and was hit by a car will haunt him for the rest of his life, said a friend who had been riding his motorcycle alongside the other bike.

Teal Starr, 22, slipped off the motorcycle, which was being driven by Teal's boyfriend, Kristopher Macanear, on I-295 near the Baymeadows exit about 11:50 p.m. Nov. 19, the Florida Highway Patrol said. Macanear wasn't injured.

Roger Hobbs told News4Jax Friday that he and his girlfriend had been riding his motorcycle next to the couple at the time of the accident. 

"It's not easy to see that. You can't un-see what we saw," Hobbs said. "It all just, everything happened fast. Everything happened real fast. And we just, we did what anybody else would do and tried to react as best as possible."

Hobbs came to the defense of Macanear, saying people should reserve judgment and that his friend always took steps to stay safe. 

"We were like family. And I think that's what made this hard for everybody," Hobbs said. "We really do feel like a family together, so when you lose somebody in your family -- blood, or however else you feel related -- it hurts. And it hurts even more when you feel responsible for it." 

According to people who called 911 and an Uber driver who witnessed the crash, the two motorcycles were speeding shortly before Starr slipped from the motorcycle. 

Hobbs denied that. He said Macanear has endured unfair criticism from the public, with many blaming him for Starr's death.

"Nobody could have prevented this. There was no way of knowing this was going to happen. It's just one of those things. It just, it happened. And you can't even say there was a way to prevent what happened. You really can't," Hobbs said.

Susan Starr, the mother of Teal Starr, told News4Jax this week that she has hired a lawyer and cannot make any further comment about her daughter's death.