"Right now, I'm dealing with a little one that's laying up there right now. Nobody else," said Latrisha Reid, the victim's mother.
Latrisha Reid is living a nightmare as she keeps an endless vigil for her daughter Shantir, a playful and happy 20-month-old, who was run down on the street in front of her own home.
"She was laying there. Blood coming out of her nose, the side of her head scraped," Reid said.
It happened Tuesday afternoon, in broad daylight.
A family member had been watching Shantir on their apartment complex's front law, but turned her back for a moment.
That was the very moment the toddler wandered onto Howells Avenue.
It was also the moment a large dark SUV pulled out of the apartment complex and turned right.
The SUV ran right over Shantir, and then pulled away, like it never happened.
"This is particularly heart-wrenching to us. We're all parents, we all have children we know people who have little children, it's particularly disturbing when it's somebody that young," said Detective Sgt. Tony Lavista, of the Suffolk County Police Department.
Detectives say it's possible the driver never knew he hit the girl.
They've been canvassing the Stonewater Gardens Apartments for anyone who might have seen the SUV, but so far, have come up with nothing.
"It's just hard because I have to see my only daughter lay there like that," Reid said.
Now, this mother is left with nothing, but her worst fears and a plea for whoever was behind the wheel to take responsibility and step forward.
"If you're out there and you have a heart, you'll turn yourself in right now. Cause this innocent little girl did not deserve this," Reid said.
Shantir remains in critical condition.
