PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – A Portsmouth family is searching for answers after a deadly hit-and-run last Thursday.
Shadon “Anna” Williams is well-known and loved in the Afton Shopping Center across from the Grand of New Port.
Williams’ family confirmed to 10 On Your Side’s Kiahnna Patterson that she was hit by two cars on August 3.
Jovan ‘Ron’ Williams, her twin brother, received a call from their mom around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
“I was at work and my mom told me she was hit by a car, and it was bad,” he said. “She called me again and said she’s gone.”
Jovan said their grandmom lives near the busy street. Anna was likely going across the street to help her grandmom with laundry when two cars hit her.
“The day she passed away … she was washing clothes at the laundry mat with my grandmom,” said Jovan. “The first car’s mirror hit her in the face and she fell down to the pavement. The second spun her around ran on top of her then kept going.”
Carlianzo Wilson, a cousin, was called to the scene. Wilson said he saw Anna earlier in the day.
“She gave me this peaceful smile. I didn’t know that that was the last time I’d see her,” he said. “She was a hero to her grandmother, she was a hero to the family because one thing about her, she had a big heart on helping people.”
Wilson wants to commend the woman who performed CPR on Anna until the Portsmouth paramedics arrived on scene.
He also appreciates the first driver for turning around and returning to the scene.
“We just hope that the police find the other car,” said Wilson. “When something like that happens, you have to stop. You have to say something, even if you feel like ‘OK I don’t rock with the police,’ you have to stop because that’s somebody’s life. Someone’s child, so for people to disregard that. That wasn’t right at all.”
Wilson said that section of Route 17 is 35 mph, yet drivers often go 50 or 55 mph.
Tanya Levell, a family friend, was also in the shopping center early Thursday afternoon. Levell believes she was the last person to speak with Anna.
“Everybody loves Anna. She was everybody’s baby,” Levell said. “Now every time her grandmom walks out of her door, she has to see where her baby was killed.”
The community put up balloons and flowers near the crash area. Following suit, Wilson and Levell bought over 100 balloons to put up along the section of George Washington Highway.
“If he or she comes by here, (I hope) that they feel our pain and how much love we had for her,” Levell said. “Every time you come by here, you’re going to feel it. I just ask that God gives you the strength to turn yourself in.”
On Tuesday, Portsmouth police confirmed they are investigating the case as a hit-and-run.
