Family of grandmother killed by driver in Brooklyn demands justice
NEW YORK -- A family is demanding justice after a grandmother was killed in a hit-and-run in Brooklyn on Saturday.
Lynn Christopher, 67, was struck by a driver while walking with her 8-year-old grandson near her home in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
"It's the most devastating thing in the world to see your mom and your nephew hurt and you can't go to them, to at least just be there with her," said Lesley Christopher, the victim's daughter.
She was just around the corner from Ralph Avenue, where the crash happened.
READ MORE: Grandmother killed, 8-year-old boy among 4 injured after driver strikes pedestrians in Brooklyn
"This was her favorite hat, and I see it on the ground and I go, wait, that's not my... No, my mom is supposed to, that looks like my mom's hat. She wore it everywhere. I just said, no, she's in Downtown Brooklyn, she's not here. It's somebody else," Christopher told CBS2's Kevin Rincon.
Her mother was out enjoying the day with her 8-year-old grandson, Jacob Butler, who was in town visiting from Atlanta.
"I would get hugs and kisses every day. That was the deal -- you come downstairs, you say hi to auntie and then what happens? He goes, hugs and kisses," Christopher said.
That boy is now fighting for his life on a ventilator at Maimonides Medical Center. He needed surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, and he suffered a broken leg, among other injuries.
"They just drove off and they left them in the street like they were garbage. Who does that? To good people who are just going about their day and just trying to live their life? I don't understand," Christopher said.
"The video I observed is chilling for anyone that lives in this community," Mayor Eric Adams said Saturday night.
As a resident of this neighborhood, the mayor points to a spike in stolen cars as a big issue and says what happened in this incident is heartbreaking.
In this case, the plates on the car were mismatched. When officers approached, the two men inside sped off down the block, hitting a cyclist, three pedestrians and at least two vehicles. They ran off on foot.
"They have to pay for what they did. They took somebody away from people that loved her and would do anything for her," Christopher said.
She says her mother was a strong woman of faith and the entire family is now leaning on faith to try to make sense of this tragedy.
