Woman killed in hit-and-run while crossing street in Uptown

Woman, 69, struck and killed in hit-and-run in Uptown

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Police are searching for the driver who hit and killed a woman in the middle of a street in Uptown Tuesday night.

As CBS 2's Shardaa Gray reported, the woman was simply walking through a designated crosswalk at Broadway and Winona Street when a person driving in a black sedan plowed into her.

Surveillance video shows the gruesome moment the driver hits 69-year-old Soyfa Athamanah. It shows a car swerving and failing to stop.

A witness says Athamanah was crossing at the crosswalk when she was hit.

Tyler Lariviere, a photojournalist with the Chicago Sun-Times, saw it all unfold in front of him.

"From what I saw, I didn't see brake lights. I saw him swerve, speed up a little bit," Lariviere said. "She then flew in the air, landed. I saw him swerve a little bit more after like the impact."

Police say this happened around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Lariviere said the driver fled the scene.

"And it looked like he was going to kind of pull off to the side to maybe see what's up, but he kept going," Lariviere said.

He said he and his fiancée quickly jumped into action.

"My fiancé, who was in the car with me, she called the police immediately," Lariviere said.

Athamanah was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

A smashed-up container of food and a sandal were still lying in the middle of the intersection hours later.

Police describe the vehicle as black sedan, possibly a Honda, with unknown front end damage. The car was last seen traveling north on Broadway from Winona Street.

"She was face down, and her face was pretty wrecked," Lariviere said.

Kelly Condly, who lives in Uptown, said she was surprised how careless the driver was after hitting the woman and taking off.

I'm horrified," Condly said. "We live here and walk around here all the time. It seems like she was crossing the street in a designated crosswalk area, with signs for people to slow down.

Residents are anxiously hoping police can find the person responsible.

"I hope she gets justice," Condly said. "That's horrible."

Chicago Police are still looking for the driver. If you have any information, they want you to call them.

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