Exclusive: 2 Sisters In Two States Plead For Help In Hit-Run Death
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NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBSMiami) —- Two grieving sisters in two states are pleading for the public's help in the death of a 61-year-old woman who was struck and killed three weeks ago by a hit-and-run driver.
They spoke exclusively and for the first time to CBS4'S Peter D'Oench near the scene of the crime on N.W. 7th Ave. at 94TH St.
"My sister was a good person. She liked a lot of people and helped a lot of people. She was friendly and we all loved her. She was a great sister and a mother. She was just a good person and she didn't deserve to die the way she did," said Janet TAIPALE, the sister of the victim, Lisa Ann Taipale.
Miami-Dade Police say Taipale was struck by a four-door, dark-colored vehicle at 11:35 p.m. on Friday, June 8th. She was transported to a hospital but did not survive.
Police say she was not in a crosswalk. They do not know the make of the car or have a description of the driver.
Janet Taipale said, "She was hit by a blue car, buy someone as she was coming from a store and that person hit her and left her lying there.
I am absolutely sick about it. This is not the first hit and run on this corner and will not be the last. Lisa needs justice."
"Somebody saw something. I know they did," she said. "You have to be a person, a grown person, a human feeling person with some kind of humanity.
Come forth and bring that person to justice. This is not just for her but for all the people who have been hit. I feel awful and I feel terrible. She was not just my sister. She was my best friend."
"I know someone out there knows something. They know what they did and they must come forward and admit what they did," she said.
D'Oench also spoke through Facetime with Patricia Cerullo who lives in New York and who said, "She was my older sister. She was full of life. She was a mother and a grandmother. We all loved her and she loved horses and motorcycles and living."
"I feel someone is guilty of murder because they didn't stop," she said. "I feel that someone killed my sister and is getting away with it."
"If it was your family would you want them to be left like that," she said. "If it was your sister or mother would you want people to leave them like that in the street. Nobody should be left like that. Have some human decency."
"Please come forward," she said. "Not knowing makes the death so much worse. Someone had to see something. It is a busy street corner and someone was hanging out there. It would mean a lot to me if someone came forward. It would give us relief. I don't know about closure but at least we would know how this happened."
"Lisa was a human being and she didn't deserve this. We need to know what happened and why," said Cerullo.
Anyone with information that can help Miami-Dade Police should call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
There is a reward of up to $3,000.
