Christmas Eve hit-and-run: Reward offered after woman killed

Reward offered in Christmas Eve hit-and-run that killed mom dropping off toys at shelter

A Black man stands with hands to his face, palms together, while he looks at a roadside memorial of candles and balloons.

Staff Writer

Dec. 27, 2022 5:26 PM PT

A Los Angeles woman killed on Christmas Eve by a hit-and-run driver while dropping off toys at a shelter was described by her niece as a selfless person.

Trina Newman-Townsend was a community activist who “lived a life of humanitarian aid and social justice,” Maryann Payne-Benjamin told The Times. The GoFundMe page that Payne-Benjamin organized to raise money for her aunt’s funeral said Newman-Townsend was devoted to “family, friends, foster children, or basically anyone that was in need.”

The 62-year-old was crossing South Broadway near 88th Street on Saturday afternoon, heading toward her parked car, when she was struck by a blue midsize sedan. The front passenger area of the car sustained “significant damage” in the collision, police said, and the driver fled. Newman-Townsend was pronounced dead at the scene by the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A woman stands next to the open door of a car wearing a blue brimmed hat and a flowing pantsuit.

Payne-Benjamin said friends and family would be attending a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. Thursday near the crash site.

There’s a $50,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the driver’s identification, arrest and conviction, “or resolution by civil compromise” in this case. The reward is offered through Los Angeles’ Hit-and-Run Reward Program Trust Fund established by the City Council in 2015.

Deaths in pedestrian-involved crashes are up in Los Angeles, with 144 killed this year, according to Los Angeles Police Department data through Dec. 3. A total of 76 hit-and-run deaths have been reported. Despite the “Vision Zero” plan, which aims to eliminate pedestrian deaths by 2025, they rose almost 20% this year compared with 2021.

Newman-Townsend was a mother, grandmother, evangelist and community activist, her niece said. “We pray that the driver of the hit and run vehicle is found and justice is served,” she wrote on GoFundMe.

Anyone with information can anonymously call L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

City News Service contributed to this report.