JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The daughter of a Jacksonville woman who was hit and killed by a car late Tuesday night made a desperate plea Wednesday for help finding the driver that killed her mother.
"Nothing will bring her back. Nothing will put us at peace but just knowing that whoever did it is not out hitting people and running anymore," said Sakinah Abdullah.
Police said 55-year-old Paula Abdullah was walking down New Berlin Road when a black car hit her and kept driving. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said they don't have a lot of information to go on and are still searching for leads in Abdullah's case.
Meanwhile, the victim's daughters are left without the one person they say meant everything to them.
"You took away a mother and a grandmother, sister and a friend and a daughter from people who really, really, really need her and love her and care for her. You really changed people's lives for the rest of our life, our lives are changed forever. Our lives will never be the same, never," said Sakinah Abdullah. "Who hits someone and doesn't stop to see if they are OK? That's shocking, that's unhuman, that's horrible. She was my world, she was my best friend. I lost the only person in this entire world who I knew loved me unconditionally."
Detectives with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said that Abdullah was walking east on the edge of the road around 10 p.m. Tuesday night when she was struck. Abdullah's body was found early Wednesday morning when a neighbor found the 55-year-old laying in her driveway and called 911.
Abdullah's daughter told Channel 4 the fact that Abdullah was even out at that time of night is unusual. Abdullah said her mother was a homebody and usually never ventured too far from home.
"One of my sisters -- my older sisters -- would just go pick her up and bring her home, so walking home is odd. If she did, it's really out of the normal because she never does that," said Sakinah Abdullah.
"Our lives will never be the same. I talked to my mom every day. She told me every day, ‘Have a good day, I love you.' No one is going to text me that anymore. No one is going to tell me that they love me every single day."
Police are looking for a black Toyota Tacoma, possibly an SR5 Sport model (pictured above), with heavy right front damage to the headlight area. Abdullah's family is pleading with the public to help find the person who hit their mother.
Anyone with any information is being asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.