Grandmother killed in Bronx hit-and-run; police searching for driver
NEW YORK -- Police are searching for the driver who struck and killed a grandmother in the Bronx and kept on going early Friday morning.
CBS New York's Kristie Keleshian spoke with her heartbroken family, who is demanding justice.
Candles and pictures of 75-year-old Martina Sanchez Alcantara were seen throughout her Grand Concourse apartment building Saturday -- a testament to just how loved she was by her neighbors.
"It's been terrible. It's been terrible," Alcantara's grandson Fernando Rodriguez said.
"We're all in heartbreak," Alcantara's brother Carlos Reyes said.
Just before 5:30 Friday morning, police say Alcantara had the right of way and was in the crosswalk at Grand Concourse Avenue near 164th Street when the driver of a 2020 Volkswagen sedan with Florida plates struck and killed her.
She was just feet from home. Her family says Alcantara was on her way to her maintenance job in Manhattan.
Since getting the heart-wrenching call about what happened, Alcanatra's family has been gathering at her daughter's apartment, where she lived for the past two months.
"She raised me, my sisters, all my family. She was there for everybody," Rodriguez said.
A native of the Dominican Republic, she has four sons, three daughters, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She is remembered for being a hard worker, always with a positive attitude.
Her family says she was hospitable to loved ones and to neighbors.
"Everybody that come into her place. The only thing she ask is, 'Do you want something to eat? Something to drink? Be happy,'" Reyes said.
"She helped everybody, opened her doors for everybody, fed everybody in the building," Rodriguez said.
Now, her neighbor Kathy Chiriguaya wants to pay it forward by collecting funds to help Alcantara's grieving family.
"I wanna help because she is so... beautiful person," she said.
Pleading for justice, Alcantara's family has a message to the driver.
"I hope you're looking at this family. Look at what you did to us," Rodriguez said.
A memorial service for Alcantara is planned for next Wednesday night in the city, and her family plans on transporting her body to her native Dominican Republic by next Friday or Saturday for another service there.
