The sister of a Kings Park college student killed by a hit-and-run driver in Brentwood Sunday urged the driver to surrender to authorities.
"I need to know who did it," said Caitlin Smith as she fought back tears. "If this person doesn't come forward, it's just going to eat me alive because you left my brother on the side of the road."
Kieran Smith, 21, was found dead on the Long Island Expressway service road just east of the Sagtikos Parkway early Sunday.
A day later, Smith's sister and two other friends went to the spot where his body was discovered to leave a cross, flowers and a photo of Smith.
According to his sister, Smith was headed home when his car got a flat tire. He exited the 2008 Nissan and was walking for help along Express Drive South when he was struck and killed, said Suffolk County Police.
Investigators have not released a description of the vehicle that hit Smith, but video taken at the scene shows one of his shoes in the roadway. It's an image that haunts his loved ones.
"I will never forgive, because you can't leave somebody on the side of the road like an animal, like a squirrel," said a tearful Ranie Schoenstein, the girlfriend of Smith's father. "I hope they go through hell like we are."
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Smith's father offered no comment, telling NBC New York that he was too grief-stricken to speak.
Keiran Smith was finishing his second year at Suffolk Community College, his sister said, and was working toward becoming a doctor.
"He was very set on going to school and making something of himself," said friend Nicole Pellegrino. "He was a very good person."
Caitlin Smith, one of the four Smith children, is now preparing for her 20th birthday Sunday without her older brother.
"It's unreal," she said. "I feel like I am going to wake up and it's a dream."
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