NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – North Miami police are searching for a driver who struck and killed a woman early Tuesday morning.
According to a police representative, the woman, identified as Junette Escarment, 38, was struck at the intersection of Northeast 132nd Street and Northeast Sixth Avenue about 6 a.m. while crossing the street.
People who know Escarment said she is a paraprofessional at Melrose Elementary who lives in an apartment building in the area. They said she goes to a nearby McDonald's every day to eat an apple pie and drink coffee for breakfast.
"I was calling her today in the morning because she always come here," Sandra Chuy, who works at the fast-food restaurant, said. "She was a really nice person. We're going to miss her a lot."
"She's a people person," Escarment's cousin, Maudira Escarment, said. "She loves kids and likes to teach her knowledge to other people."
Escarment is survived by a 21-year-old daughter and a sister who lives in South Florida.
Witnesses told police that the driver was in a light-colored Toyota Camry, but surveillance video shows that it was actually a yellow taxi van that struck her.
"People with no heart -- they don't care about people's lives," Maudira Escarment said.
Anyone with information should call North Miami police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.