Retired minister killed by car in South L.A.

A former church minister and foster mother was killed on Christmas Eve in South Los Angeles after a car hit her and then drove away.

The Los Angeles Police Department told City News Service that the driver fled the scene about 3:30 p.m.

The incident occurred at the corner of 88th Street and South Broadway. News video showed residents congregating at the scene who told reporters that Trina Newman had been struck.

Friends and loved ones told reporters that Newman, 61, had been dropping off gifts at a community center.

“I was trying to run through the yellow tape to her. I just couldn’t believe what I heard over the phone,” Amarrie Nicasio, the victim’s daughter, told KTLA.

“She helped everybody, she gave back to the community in every way she could. She’s a good person. Whoever did this needs to step up and turn yourself in,” Nicasio said.

Nicasio described Newman‘s generosity, and said that she had raised several foster children. Friends and acquaintances said they hoped the driver would be found and brought to justice.

“We’re all going to go one day, but to go like this? It’s terrible,” Michele Reed, a friend of Newman’s, told KABC. “For a person to not stop and keep going.”