Woman fatally struck by hit-and-run driver in Newark

NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police are trying to track down the hit-and-run driver who killed a woman in New Jersey.

"She was happy, she was happy, you know, she was happy, she was happy, she was a happy woman," said Gloria Kasper, the victim's niece.

That's the kind of happiness that comes with being part of a big, loving family.

47-year-old Josette Morales was a mother of two, grandmother of two and the youngest of 10 children.

"I feel hurt. She was like another mother to me. She was like a mother to me, she was a sister, she was my aunt, one of my favorite aunts," Kasper said.

"She was going to see a friend over there and somebody hit her," said Raymond Morales, the victim's brother.

Morales was on a routine run to a corner bodega in Newark around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, when police say as she crossed Springfield Avenue and 19th Street, she was killed by a vehicle headed east bound on Springfield.

"Whoever hit my aunt in this hit-and-run, could you please just come forward? That's all I'm asking. Just give my aunt some peace, some justice, that's all," Kasper said.

Corey Ferdinand just happened to be at his second floor window at the time.

"It was a boom, so as I opened the window I'm seeing the young lady I saw just going to the store, she's spinning, she's in a cartwheel in the air," Ferdinand said.

But he says the suspect vehicle was going so fast, it was hard for him to tell what kind of car it was.

"This was a murder. I see it no other way. This person murdered this person. They didn't stop, they didn't hit the brakes, nothing, it was like vroom," Ferdinand said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Task Force detectives at (877) 847-7432 or (973) 621-4586.