Police Seek Driver Who Struck And Killed Queens Mother At Intersection
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The search continued Thursday night for a hit-and-run driver after a young mom was struck and killed while crossing the street.
It happened in the middle of Wednesday night's storm in Queens.
Sheena Mathew was crossing busy Hillside Avenue at Little Neck Parkway in the middle of the punishing rain when a car struck and killed her before fleeing the scene.
"I heard the noise," witness Mohamed Essalih told CBS 2's Steve Langford. "It's like you don't have any morals about it, a human feeling like that. It's miserable."
Mathew went out to pick up some cold medicine for her husband from the corner drug store, just half a block from her home.
The 38-year-old registered nurse leaves behind her husband, who is a New York City traffic agent, and two daughters, ages 10 and 11.
"I know the children -- two children. It's very sad news," said family friend Father Thomas Paul.
At their home just a few hundred yards from the crime scene, the victim's extended family filed in to grieve their loss.
"We lost our dear girl, actually," Mathew's uncle, Philipose Philip, said.
Philip said Mathew's husband keeps asking why God did this to him and the victim's little girls are heartbroken.
"They were shown the body, so they are still crying inside," Philip said.
It turns out much of Mathew's family is in town for what was to have been a joyous occasion.
"Her mother is here also. She came from India for my son's wedding, actually, for a visit, and now she has to attend the funeral of her daughter," Philip said.
As police search for the driver of the car that sped away, family and friends were to hold a prayer vigil Thursday night at the intersection where Mathew was killed.
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