Elderly Auburn woman killed in hit-and-run, driver still on the loose

KENT, Wash. — An elderly Auburn woman is dead after she was hit by a speeding red car Sunday night. The search is on for the driver who hit and killed that 84-year-old woman and kept going.

She was trying to cross busy Central Avenue South in Kent Sunday night but she never made it.

This is at least the third fatality on that stretch of roadway in the last year.

Ashley Casarrubias was coming home, turning into the driveway, when she said she saw a red car heading straight for a woman who appeared to be crossing busy Central Avenue South.

It was about 8:15 Sunday night. The driver, she said, never stopped.

“The car hit the woman,” she said. “He started driving at full speed. Yes, he sped off. Didn’t stop at all.”

It affected Gregory Hardiman so deeply, that he came back Monday afternoon.

“I seen a whole bunch of cops had the block blocked off,” Hardiman said. “And the lady was just laying on the ground with her leg twisted.”

It was already dark when the accident happened. Kent police said by the time medics arrived, they couldn’t help the victim. The driver who hit her was nowhere to be found. The life of an 84-year-old woman from Auburn was taken, in an instant.

“Oh, my god, that makes it even 10 times worse,” said Cliff Campbell. “I’m so sorry for her and sorry for her family.”

The pain of losing someone in an accident along Central Avenue South is familiar to Campbell. His 15-year-old daughter lost her life here, too, 34 years ago.

“So, this is something that, it worries me,” Campbell said. “I’ve seen the bus stop and kids get off the bus from school and try to cross Central, right here. And they’re playing frogger trying to get across.”

Now he said the car left a lot of debris scattered on the roadway. So, that is what you should be on the lookout for.

If you see a small, red, four-door sedan with front-end damage, you’re asked to give Kent police a call.

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