Hit-and-run crash victim near Fresno State remembered as selfless, generous

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Heartbreak is casting a shadow over a hit-and-run investigation after a deadly crash Saturday night near Fresno State.

"I've asked myself this 100 times already," said the former husband of the victim, Laura Bryant. "I mean, it's like 'How could she have not seen that car?'"

The driver who killed the 56-year-old Bryant stayed at the scene of the crash and is in no legal trouble.

But a second driver also hit her, and police are closing in on the suspect.

Laura Bryant spent 56 years thinking about other people before herself.

"She was the kindest, sweetest person," said her sister, Lisa Harvey. "The other day, we were at the grocery store and this gentleman didn't have any money and she gave him a dollar even though we're not financially stable."

"Even the night this happened, the only reason she was crossing the street is because I asked her to get me a Big Mac," said her son, Jessie Wall. "And that cost her her life."

Bryant lived about half a mile's walk from the McDonald's where she wanted to buy dinner for her family, but it's a lot shorter if you don't use the crosswalk at Cedar.

Almost as soon as she stepped onto Shaw Avenue, her former husband knew it was bad.

"I saw the car hit her and I saw her in the air," said Dan Wall.

Police say the impact killed her almost immediately, but when she tumbled over, a second car struck.

"She was in a real bad way," Dan Wall said. "When the paramedics got there, they said that she was gone. Hard thing to see. Oh my God. I can't even close my eyes without seeing it over and over again."

Bryant never had a lot in life, but she had her son and her sister.

They planned to move together to Arizona before the end of the month.

Now, Jessie and Lisa will have to move on without her.

"It feels like she was taken from us just before she was basically freed from all this pain from living here," said Jessie Wall.

Police say the first driver who hit her stuck around, called 911, and helped in the investigation. He didn't break any laws.

But the second driver took off, leaving a piece of the car behind.

Investigators used the right front bumper and wheel well to identify the car as a gold Honda, and they're using city street cameras to figure out where it went and who owns it.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for funeral and family expenses.