'The Car Came Out Of Nowhere'; Woman Nearly Killed In Country Club Hills Hit-And-Run
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The family of a young woman nearly killed in a hit-and-run in south suburban Country Club Hills is asking for help finding the driver who struck her.
Cherry Blue, a 20-year-old college student, was out Christmas shopping Friday night, and was crossing the street near 169th and Pulaski, when a speeding car hit her.
"The car came out of nowhere," said her mother, Erika Jenkins. "They said he was going pretty fast."
Jenkins said witnesses remembered the vehicle as a blue or green Ford Explorer with front end damage. She said the driver was in his teens or 20s.
Jenkins and Blue's uncle, Kevin Miller, described the short time the driver stayed at the scene.
They said he got out of his car, said, "I have a felony," and then got back in his car and sped off, leaving Blue lying severely injured.
Jenkins said it seems like the driver left her daughter for dead.
"I pray that we can find this person, or that that person would come forward," Jenkins said.
Blue was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she had screws and two metal plates placed in her broken arm. She also suffered swelling in her brain.
"She couldn't remember her father passing years ago," Jenkins said. "She doesn't remember anything from the entire week."
Jenkins said she was still shaken up on Sunday.
"I could have lost my daughter that night," she said.
Blue remained hospitalized Sunday night. Her family wasn't sure when she would be released, but were certain she will need extensive physical therapy and rehabilitation when she's out of the hospital.
Country Club Hills police did not respond to requests for comment on the investigation. Blue's family said no one was in custody.