79-year-old woman killed by hit-and-run driver while getting out of her car in Brooklyn
EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A 79-year-old woman was killed in a hit-and-run in Brooklyn on Saturday and her family is pleading for justice.
Verna McKnight was a business owner, a mother and a grandmother.
Police said McKnight was getting out of her parked car just after 7:15 p.m. on Church Avenue in East Flatbush when she was struck by a white van.
According to investigators, the driver of the van pulled over, but then took off again.
McKnight was taken to Brookdale University Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
"Not finding who killed my grandmother, that's the hardest part, and the way he left her," said the victim's grandson Kareem McKnight.
As her grandson tries to cope with the loss of his grandmother, the NYPD was back at the scene of the crime on Tuesday.
Her family says McKnight was on her way to get groceries after working at her salon.
The gates of her 30+-year business were closed Tuesday with candles burning in her memory.
Her death is a major loss to the business community.
"I couldn't believe it, I saw her Saturday, they were very busy over there," said saleswoman Mary Corniffe.
McKnight migrated to the United States from Jamaica in 1979 to give her five children a better life.
They vow to make sure her legacy will live on.
Her grandson says the family plans to take her back home to bury her and give her a proper homegoing.
But until then, they are desperate for the driver to come forward.
The NYPD's Highway Collision Investigation Squad is investigating the collision.
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