Family Shocked After Woman Is Struck, Killed In Wyandanch, L.I. Hit-And-Run
WYANDANCH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The Long Island community of Wyandanch was filled with heartbreak Tuesday, a day after a driver hit and killed a woman and never stopped.
As CBS2's Steve Langford reported, friends, loved ones and even strangers have struggled to cope with her loss.
It was dark and raining on East Booker Avenue in Wyandanch just before 7 p.m. Monday. But still, no one understood why a driver would hit pedestrian Raina Campbell and keep on going.
"They took her, man," said Michael Smith, the victim's boyfriend.
Smith said Campbell, 48, had just gone for a walk to the corner store.
"I ran down the street," Smith said. "They had it taped off. They wouldn't let me through."
Suffolk County police have been investigating since the accident happened.
"We're in the process of collecting some video now, so our hope is to identify the make and model of the car involved," said Suffolk County police Detective Sgt. James Madden.
Police said Campbell was hit from behind.
"We believe (the offending vehicle) would have front-end damage," Madden said. "The front of the vehicle struck Ms. Campbell."
There was no shortage of witnesses, and people who came out to help. But there was nothing they could do.
"I had a hard time sleeping last night," said neighbor Bobby Arnold.
Arnold said he came running outside when he heard a loud thump.
"I got a sheet, and I put a sheet over the top of her until the ambulance got here," he said.
The victim's daughter, Raina Stewart, found out her mother had been killed shortly afterward.
"I came home, and I saw two detectives in my living room, and they told me my mother passed away," Stewart said.
Stewart wondered why someone would do such a thing to her mother.
"She had children. She had grandchildren," Stewart said, "you know, and no one deserved to die like that."
Strangers who saw the woman on the ground were likewise haunted by the injustice.
"(The driver) just took off," one woman said. "Left her laying on the side of the road."
The victim's family said she had just returned from a friend's wake hours before she was killed.
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