Seven-Year-Old Girl Died After Hit And Run Accident
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A seven year old girl crossing the street with her grandmother, Saturday evening, died, after a hit and run driver struck them both.
Floresmila Alvarado, 71, said when a Dodge Durango suddenly appeared over a hill on the Northwest Highway, near Harry Hines, she ran to the median, pulling Devora Lopez, 7, behind her.
She said, the SUV was weaving, hit the curb, and struck them both. Alvarado said she fell forward scraping her arms and legs, as her granddaughter was tossed in the air.
"I felt the impact. I felt her hand slip away and her fall the other way. When I ran to pick her up, she was already dead," she said in Spanish.
Alvarado said, she adopted her granddaughter two years ago, after the girls' mother, her youngest daughter, was kidnapped and killed in Honduras.
The girl's older cousin remembers meeting her for the first time, when Lopez arrived in the U.S.
"She said, I love you, cousin," said Cynthia Alvarado,16. "I guess she was just trying to get that love that she didn't get because her mom had just passed away."
Smart and studious, Lopez quickly learned English and became closely attached to her grandmother. "She would tell my grandmother she would speak English and she would take care of her," said her cousin.
According to Alvarado, a witness to the crash chased the driver from the scene and took down an Oklahoma license plate number.
Dallas police say, they have also obtained video of the possible suspect car, described as a black 2004-2009 Dodge Durango with damage to the front left head light.
Alvarado said she is eager for the driver caught and punished.
After suffering a diabetic attack three weeks ago, Alvarado remembers how her granddaughter called for help.
Staying overnight with her in the hospital, Lopez urged her grandmother to get better.
"You don't have to die, grandmother. You need to see me grow up. I'm going to study, work hard to take care of you," Alvarado remembers her saying. "I never thought I'd be burying her first."
Anyone with information is asked to call Dallas police.
