The Baton Rouge Police Department has launched an investigation into a fatal crash involving a woman who was struck in a hit-and-run before a responding officer ran over her with a police car, WAFB reported.
“I just want everybody to pray for her family,” Lorraine, a convenience store worker who was on duty when the fatal incident occurred, said. “She buried her mama and I don’t know her family situation that much and I was a really close friend to her. we prayed together every night.”
The fatal incident occurred on Saturday night, and the victim was identified as 38-year-old Quiana Brown. Lorraine said the victim was struck by a gray sedan while she was trying to cross the street. The car in question did not stop, and the crash left Brown’s clothes on the road.
But the victim was struck again while she was picking up her clothes. “When police hit her, he ran over her and hit her, and it threw her into the air and she landed on the ground, but then he ran over her again. Like backed over her,” Lorraine said.
In the wake of the incident, the Baton Rouge Police Department stated that the responding officer said Brown was out of his sight when he struck her. The 38-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
WAFB also said it was yet to know if authorities had placed the responding officer on leave or if he was still at post. “I loved her and she was very young and now she’s gone but she’s never going to be forgotten,” Lorraine said.
Lorraine also described Brown as a “very friendly person” who “always had a smile no matter what she was going through.”