SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Authorities are searching for a vehicle that ran over a woman on state Route 94 in the Jamul area early Friday morning and left her to die.
An incident involving a vehicle versus a pedestrian was reported just before 3:30 a.m. on eastbound SR-94 at Steele Canyon Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The CHP said that “it was reported that the female was initially inside of the red SUV and had exited and began walking westbound on SR-94. At some point the male began backing the SUV at which time he struck the female causing major injuries.”
Witnesses said they heard a loud argument before the collision.
Janelle Rivera, who drove by the scene, said she and others with her saw a man standing over a woman, saying, “Don’t you die on me.”
A witness named Rose told 10News, “The man yelled, ‘Don’t leave her alone! Stay with her!’ He kept shaking her.”
"I said, ‘What happened?’ And he said she jumped out of the vehicle and that he hit her. Although I don't think it was a hit; I think it was more like he ran over because the car was pretty much intact,” said Rivera.
After no more than five minutes, witnesses said the man got into the SUV and drove off.
Emergency crews arrived at the scene and transported the woman to Scripps Mercy Hospital. CHP officials confirmed that the unidentified woman died from her injuries.
The man was described as black, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 275-300 pounds. CHP officials said the man had short hair and no visible tattoos, and he was last seen wearing light-colored clothing and a sweatband around his head.
A detailed description of the red SUV was not immediately available, but one witness was able to provide authorities with the SUV’s license plate number, 10News learned.
It is unknown if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the incident.
