BUSHWICK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- The heartbroken mother who watched as her young daughter was killed by a car backing up in Brooklyn spoke publicly for the first time on Wednesday night as the girl was honored in a march at the scene of the tragedy.It's amazing Reyna Cabrera has the strength even to stand, much less march to the spot where just days ago she watched her 4-year-old daughter Luz Gonzalez die. "She was the light of our family," she said. "The light of my eyes. "On Sunday, the two were walking in front of a laundromat in Bushwick, with Luz on her pink scooter. The little girl lost her shoe and ran back to get it, which happened just as an SUV was backing out of its space and drove over her.Police say the driver was oblivious to what she had done and was seen continuing down the sidewalk to leave the area.Wednesday night the family marched to that now hallowed spot along with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who was armed with a horrifying statistic. "She's the ninth child that was killed by a driver this year," Adams said. "More children than in 2017. Nine children were killed. "Police ruled this an accident and declined to charge the driver.But the city is now investigating the legality of a parking lot like few others, with hand painted markers directing cars to drive on the sidewalk to get in and out.In the laundromat on Wednesday night, Eyewitness News couldn't find anyone in charge. Though a regular customer said in his opinion this lot was a tragedy waiting to happen. "The street is blocked by all these cars and there's no way to get in or get out, so what they do when they leave, they just drive on the sidewalk, so there's a blind side when they come out," customer Jose Lajara said. "We really want this parking lot to be closed," Luz's grandmother Fabiola Mendieta said. "Because there is a lot of families around these blocks, they have kids and we just want safety for our kids. That's what we want. "That's what they have at least for now, with police barricades now blocking off the lot to vehicular access as a memorial grows.It'll be up to city inspectors to figure out what if any codes have been violated here and if so, by whom. Of course, all of it is too late for Luz Gonzalez.----------<doc-sep>NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A four-year-old girl was killed and her mother injured in a hit-and-run in front of a Brooklyn laundromat Sunday afternoon. Police say the girl had been riding her scooter near Wyckoff Avenue and Hart Street in Bushwick when she lost her shoe. Her mother was bending over attempting to put the shoe back on the girl’s foot when police say a woman driving a black SUV was backing out of a laundromat parking lot. She apparently didn’t see the child or her mother, and ran over them both. One witness says she ran over to help, but it was too late for the little one. “The blood was flowing out of the baby’s mouth,” she said. “I think I’ll have nightmares of it.” The child was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver along with two passengers fled but were caught just two blocks away. Investigators have reviewed surveillance video and were trying to determine if she realized she hit the girl and her mother before driving off. People from the neighborhood say they’ve complained about the laundromat parking lot because cars have no driveway access to the street, forcing people to dangerously drive onto the sidewalk to park. The city’s Department of Transportation tells CBS2 it will look into any possible safety enhancements in the area. By late Sunday, no charges had been filed as the investigation continued.<doc-sep>The number of pedestrians killed by motorists has declined over the past five years, according to the city Department of Transportation. It 2013, 184 New Yorkers were killed by cars. That number dipped to 140 in 2014 and to 139 in 2015. In 2016, the total jumped up to 148 before dropping to 107 in 2017.<doc-sep>
BUSHWICK – Just a day after a hit-and-run in Bushwick killed 4-year old Luz Gonzalez, the NYPD has declined to file charges against the driver of the car that struck the girl. The driver, a 38-year old woman, was exiting the parking lot of Clean City Laundry at Wyckoff and Hart when she struck both the 4-year old victim and the girl’s 39-year old mother before driving away. According to the NYPD, police stopped the vehicle a couple blocks away, but the driver “was unaware she had hit two people.” “She had to know,” said Gonzalez’s mother, Reyna Candia to the Daily News. Candia, 39, was also struck and injured in the incident that killed her daughter. “I want her to pay,” she said. “The person who did this, she has to pay.” StreetsBlogNYC reported that all 2018 Nissan Rogues—the car in question—are equipped with rearview cameras, which allow drivers to see blind spots behind the vehicle when in reverse. Many have commented on the parking situation at Clean City Laundry, which appears to require drivers to drive over the sidewalk in order to access the spaces. The manager reportedly told CBS that the facility has no plans to change the parking situation, though the Department of Buildings is looking into the legality of the spaces. Earlier this month, a two-car collision killed another pedestrian and injured her son in Canarsie. Again, police decided not to file charges against either of the drivers in the crash, which sent one of the cars onto the sidewalk, striking the pedestrians. In March, police originally declined to arrest or charge Dorothy Bruns in the crash that killed two children in Park Slope, but later reversed that decision after an investigation and more revelations about her problematic health and driving. Read our previous coverage of the crash here