Authorities say that a Los Angeles pastor was killed in a hit- and- run accident on Christmas Eve while he was giving gifts to children from low- income families.
Trina Newman- Townsend, 61, was hit by a car around 3:25 p.m. as she was getting into her car at the intersection of 88th Street and South Broadway in South Los Angeles, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department.
At the scene, it was clear that Newman-Townsend had died. He was a well-liked community activist. Friends and family of the woman who died in the accident are now begging the driver who ran away from the scene to come back.
Amarrie Nicasio, her daughter, told KTLA about her mother, "She helped everyone. She gave back to the community in any way she could."
"The person who did this should come forward and turn themselves in." After the terrible thing that happened on Christmas Eve, family members met at the accident site to comfort each other.
I was trying to get past the yellow tape so I could reach her. Ms. Nicasio told KTLA that she couldn't believe what she heard on the phone.
Family members say that Newman-Townsend was a preacher at a local church and that she and her husband took in and raised six foster children.
Ms. Nicasio says that she had just finished giving out gifts at a toy giveaway at a community center when she was killed.
In an interview with KTLA, Newman-friend Townsend's Pastor Kenneth Pitchford said, "Everyone's heart is broken right now." It is hard to explain in words how much she has changed this town.
The police haven't said anything about what kind of car it was, and no one has been arrested yet. Please tell us what you think about the story in the box below.