Family, friends remember victim of fatal SF hit-and-run as 'tiny ball of fire'

SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco woman hospitalized for one month after being struck by a hit and run driver has died from her injuries.

Her family and police are asking for help from the public in identifying the driver and vehicle in the crash that happened in the Mission neighborhood.

Police say they don't have leads at this point. The victim's family wants the driver caught.

Christine Reed was only 4'11", but the 72-year-old was known for her larger than life, straight-talking personality.

"Just a tiny ball of fire that everyone loved and couldn't wait to be around," says Shanae Timmons, her granddaughter.

"Any type of situation with friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, even family, She'll have the best advice," says her grandson Levi Stevens.

On May 28 around 9:20 p.m., neighbor and friend Antonio Perkins says Reed had stopped by his trailer along 16th Street near Folsom Street.

She told him she was going to the store and offered to help him buy cereal. Moments later, he heard a crash.

"I heard a skid, [he made a screeching sound], a collision, boom," Perkins says he ran outside, saw Reed on the ground with severe injuries and called 911, but the vehicle that hit her was gone.

"He took off fast. Hit her, peeled off. Car wasn't in sight at all," says Perkins.

Police say surveillance cameras in the area did not capture the incident.

"We're looking for any leads that may lead to a description of a vehicle and or a description of a driver," says Officer Robert Rueca with San Francisco Police Department.

Family members say Reed's injuries included  multiple facial fractures, a broken leg and broken ribs.

She spent a month in the hospital before she died last Friday.

"I was very, very sad but then the anger. Again, the person didn't bother to stop to see if she was okay," says Reed's daughter Natasha Taylor,

The family shared a video of Reed being taught by her grandchildren how to drive a few years ago. But they say she walked everywhere.

Her family wants the hit and run driver held accountable. 

"Just some type of remorse is all we're asking for. I lost my grandmother. My children lost their great grandmother. There's no coming back from that," says Timmons.  

She says she had planned a July 4th trip down to Southern California with her grandmother.

They were supposed to leave Friday to go to Magic Mountain. 

On Friday, pedestrian advocate group, Walk San Francisco issued their condolences to Reed's family and friends. 

"Reed is the fifth pedestrian over the age of 65 who has lost their life on San Francisco streets this year, and she is the ninth pedestrian fatality in San Francisco already in 2021," the group's statement read. 

They say older adults make up as much as 50% of pedestrian fatalities despite only being 15% of the city's population.