A 67-year-old woman was killed after being struck by a hit-and-run driver while crossing the street toward Lakewood Regional Hospital late Tuesday, authorities said.
The victim was walking across the 3700 block of South Street with her adult daughter around 10 p.m. when she was hit by a car, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
She died at the scene.
The L.A. County Coroner’s office identified the victim as Teresa Hernandez of Downey, Lt. David Smith said.
Hernandez’s daughter, who apparently had already crossed the street when her mother was hit, was not injured.
“I heard the daughter say that…they looked down the street and they seen a car pulling out of the housing down the road there… and they figured they could make it,” said witness Gentry Newsom. “So she took off across the street, and her mother was right behind her. And when she got to the other side she turned and boom, it happened so fast.”
Hernandez and her daughter were on their way to visit the victim’s husband, who suffers from kidney problems, at the hospital when the collision occurred, family members said.
The vehicle, described as a compact black Nissan or Honda, fled westbound toward Downey.
Investigators believe the car sustained major front-end damage.
One of the victim’s other daughters, Alejandra Hernandez, said she “was kind of expecting her to be OK, until I saw a body bag on the floor. That’s kind of when it hit me, and I couldn’t even walk over there.”
“It’s going to be a tough transition, with her not being here anymore,” she said, choking back tears.
Anyone with information about the investigation was asked to call the Sheriff’s Department’s Lakewood Station at 562-623-3500.
Correction: An earlier version of this article inaccurately reported the day on which the collision occurred. This story has been updated to reflect the correct day.
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