ST. CROIX — A fatal hit-and-run collision on Saturday evening has claimed the life of a 54-year-old woman identified as Christina Finney, the V.I. Police Department has announced.
At approximately 7:17 p.m. on April 19, officers from the Traffic Investigation Bureau were dispatched by the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) 911 Call Center to investigate a reported collision involving a pedestrian on Queen Mary Highway (Route 70) near the Market Supermarket.
According to preliminary findings, Finney had initially been walking on the shoulder of the westbound lane before she crossed the highway from south to north. She then began walking eastbound in the eastbound lane when she was struck from behind by a vehicle.
Finney was identified at the scene by her next of kin.
According to the VIPD, witnesses or evidence at the scene indicate that following the collision, the driver — whose identity remains unknown — exited the vehicle, looked at Finney on the ground, then returned to his truck and fled the scene without reporting the incident to authorities. No reports of a collision involving a pedestrian were made to 911 or any police station in the St. Croix District that evening.
The impact was severe. Finney’s body was thrown approximately 24 feet from the area of impact, landing on the northern shoulder of the eastbound lane.
Emergency personnel transported Finney to the Juan F. Luis Hospital, where Dr. David Fairbanks, the attending emergency room physician, pronounced her dead at approximately 8:31 p.m. Dr. Fairbanks reported that she had sustained multiple blunt force trauma injuries, leading to respiratory and cardiac arrest.
The vehicle involved in the incident has not yet been located, according to police. However, investigators believe it is a dark-colored truck with an extended cab and likely has damage to the front left side. The make and model remain unknown at this time.
The VIPD’s Traffic Investigation Bureau in the St. Croix District is continuing to investigate and has urged anyone with information that could assist in identifying the driver or the vehicle involved to come forward.
