Mother Of Woman Killed In NYE Hit & Run: 'Everybody Loved Her'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minneapolis police are looking for the driver of a car that hit and killed a mother of four Thursday night.
Aisha Freels, 37, was struck after leaving her home and crossing the street to get in a cab on New Year's Eve. Police say the driver of the car sped off.
Freels was well known by many in north Minneapolis. Police and several of her friends are looking for the person responsible.
Her mother, Angela Jackson, says Freels was just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. She giving, caring, welcoming and brought out the best in people.
"She had a heart as big as the moon. She welcomed anyone. She couldn't say no to nobody. She was very friendly, everybody loved her."
She says her daughter loved her friends and was heading out to celebrate the new year with them when tragedy struck.
"She was going to get a ride from somebody but she wanted to catch the party bus, so she called a cab instead of waiting. She tried to cross the street to get in the cab and that's when she got hit," Jackson said. "When I seen the yellow tape, I knew it was it. I knew it was it. I tried to run to her, police stopped me. And I seen my baby laying in the street."
The cab driver described the vehicle as light blue. He told investigators it drove south on Lyndale Avenue and turned west on 39th Avenue, disappearing into the darkness.
Freels has four children, ages 16, 9, 6 and 4. Her older two saw their mother lay on the cold pavement from the front window of their home.
"I just pray that he has a conscious, or he or she or whoever it was, and they turn their self in," Jackson said.
She says she is looking from some divine intervention to find justice for her daughter.
"There is a camera on the corner so they're going to be looking at the camera," Jackson said. "Oh, I pray to God that they can get a license plate and everything."
Police say the light-blue vehicle that was seen leaving the scene should have front-end damage.
Anyone with information about this hit-and-run fatality is urged to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
A fund has been set up to help her four children here.
