A young woman is dead and a driver remains on the run after a hit and run in Manhattan's West Village, a case that has left a family struggling to make sense of a sudden and violent loss. The victim was 22 years old, and police are now searching for the vehicle that struck her and sped off without stopping.
The woman has been identified as Destiny Murrell, who was from Brooklyn. According to Eyewitness News, the crash happened early Sunday morning, at around 5 a.m., in a part of the West Village that is usually quiet at that hour. It was there, on a familiar Manhattan street corner, that her life was cut short.
Police say the collision took place at the intersection of 6th Avenue and Washington Place. Murrell was crossing in the crosswalk when she was hit by an SUV that was traveling northbound on 6th Avenue. Rather than stopping to help, the driver continued on, turning a traffic death into a hit and run investigation.
Surveillance video obtained by Eyewitness News captured the final seconds before Murrell was killed. The footage does not show the moment of impact itself, but it adds to the material investigators are now combing through as they try to piece together exactly what happened in the moments around the crash.
Detectives are focused on tracking down the driver, who was still heading northbound on 6th Avenue after the collision. Police believe the vehicle involved may be a dark gray Jeep Grand Cherokee, and they are examining other video from the area in the hope that it leads them to the person responsible and, eventually, to an arrest.
For Murrell's family, the search for answers is only beginning. Her mother, who spoke a short time after the crash, said she was still trying to get her head around what had happened to her daughter. The grief of losing a 22-year-old in such a sudden way has left those closest to her reeling.
As of now, no arrests have been made, and the driver of the SUV has not been found. Police are continuing to canvass the West Village for additional footage and witnesses, treating the case as an active hit and run inquiry while the family waits for the person who struck Destiny Murrell and drove away to be identified.