A 61-year-old Brooklyn man has been arrested in the hit-and-run death of a 29-year-old mother of three who was killed as she walked across a Manhattan street over the weekend, NYPD officials Tuesday.
Joseph Chery was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death in the case of Maria Christina Villacres. She was crossing Seventh Avenue in Chelsea around 5 a.m. Sunday when she was struck. She worked at the Whole Foods store in the neighborhood and was commuting home at the time, her brother Victor told News 4.
"Our whole family is devastated. My nephews, my brother-in-law... we just lost an angel, a loving sister, wife and mother... and we want justice," her brother said.
According to police, the driver made a u-turn on 23rd Street before speeding from the area.
First responders found Villacres unconscious and unresponsive before transporting her to Bellevue Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
It wasn't immediately clear if Chery had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
