Police: 59-Year-Old Woman Killed In Brooklyn Hit-And-Run
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are looking for the driver of a white minivan who they said struck and killed a woman in Brooklyn early Sunday morning.
The deadly collision happened around 12:30 a.m. near the corner of Ninth Avenue and 42nd Street in Borough Park.
Marlene Zotti was crossing the street mid-block while using a walker and carrying groceries, 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported. The van that struck her, which was traveling north on Ninth Avenue, fled, taking a right turn onto 42nd Street, police said.
Police: 59-Year-Old Woman Killed In Brooklyn Hit-And-Run
Zotti, who was hit a half-block from her home, was rushed to Lutheran Hospital where she died, police said.
"She was my little baby," her brother, Robert Medina, told CBS2's Mark Morgan. "She was so beautiful. She got a good heart."
Medina said he and his sister went to the grocery store together two or three times a month. But this time she said she didn't need him to stay in the store with her.
"I usually take her there and bring her home," he said. "This evening, and on other occasions, she'd tell me: 'I'm going to be another couple of hours, Bobby. Go home. I'll call you when I'm ready.'"
Holding his sister's scarf he found at the scene, Medina pleaded for help.
"We have to find this person," he said. "Who could be that cruel to kill somebody like that and not have any bearing for life?"
Jose Pena came upon the scene shortly after the crash.
"I've been living here about 20 years," he said. "I've never seen this happen. It's a bad tragedy.
On Zotti's block, her neighbors are stunned they have lost one of their own.
"She would always go to the park and watch the kids play and stuff like that," neighbor Yesid Moreno said. "I guess it reminded her of her childhood. She was a very nice woman. She's going to be greatly missed."
A woman who works as a super in a building nearby said there are often problems at the intersection near where Zotti was killed.
"They don't want to stop at the (stop) sign over there," she said. "It's always something."
Another neighborhood resident said there have been at least three accidents in that stretch of Ninth Avenue over the past few months.
"Here, we don't have the light," she said. "That much we need."
Police have released surveillance video of the van.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
