A family is mourning the life of their matriarch and praying for the recovery of her 8-year-old grandson following a hit-and-run in Brooklyn Saturday.

“I needed more time with her, we all needed more time with her,” said Lesley Christopher, holding a framed photograph of her mother, 67-year-old Lynn Christopher.

“My niece and nephew came from Georgia to visit for the summer, they went downtown Brooklyn to hang out and enjoy the summer with their grandma,” she added.

What You Need To Know

  • A Brooklyn family is mourning the life of their matriarch – 67-year-old Lynn Christopher – and praying for the recovery of her 8-year-old grandson

  • They were two of the five victims of a hit-and-run Saturday evening in Bedford-Stuyvesant

  • It happened just around the corner from the Lynn Christopher’s home of 20 years

Lynn and her grandson, Jacob Butler, were two of the five victims of a hit-and-run Saturday evening in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Police said a car was fleeing from police officers on Ralph Avenue when it struck a bicyclist, along with two other cars, before hitting multiple pedestrians, including Lynn and Jacob, who were crossing the street.

It happened just around the corner from the Lynn’s home of 20 years. Her daughter said she arrived at the scene not knowing her family members were among the victims.

“I saw this hat on the street and I said, ‘This looks like my mom’s hat, but that’s not right she’s still in Downtown Brooklyn,’” said Christopher, holding the hat she recovered from the street.

That hat was one of her mother’s favorites. She also enjoyed spending time with her six siblings, four living children and grandchildren, including Jacob, who remains hospitalized.

“To see him in the hospital like that just bruised up with tubes all over him and this big bandage around his head, his skin is gauged down,” Christopher said.

As of last Thursday, the Department of Transportation said 48 pedestrians have been struck and killed this year.

Saturday’s hit-and-run came just days after a taxi cab jumped the curb in Manhattan, critically injuring two people. On Friday, an 11-year-old boy was also critically injured after he was struck and dragged by a truck in Brooklyn.

“She was a really, really good person and a really, really good mom, she loved her kids no matter what,” Christopher said of Lynn.

She said she has yet to sleep since the incident Saturday and their family is asking for justice.

“Nobody deserves that and for them to just hit them and run it’s cowardly,” said Christopher. “My mom always believed in the goodness of people and for this to happen to her – it makes no sense.”

Editor's Note: This story has been edited to reflect that Mister Softee is not associated with the truck involved in the incident. (July 14, 2022)