$50,000 reward approved for help finding North Hollywood hit-run driver

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles City Council approved a $50,000 reward on Tuesday for help finding a suspect in a deadly hit-and-run in North Hollywood.

"He just left her down there on the street, laying like a dog," said the victim's 91-year-old mother, Eva Esquivel, who is looking for closure after her youngest daughter was killed.

Melva Chapman was struck while crossing Saticoy Street in North Hollywood on Feb. 27. The driver never stopped.

"I just want to let them know that it hurts to the bottom of my heart because she was my baby," Esquivel said.

LAPD Detective Bill Bustos says they have run out of leads.

The driver was in a 2005 to 2011 white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, with damage to the left portion of the vehicle.

"I wish you would just turn yourself in. We need closure," said the victim's sister, Gloria Gallarca.

The family said Chapman was a daughter, mother and sister and was coming home from the doctor when she was fatally struck. They say the 57-year-old had so much more life to live and want the person responsible for her death to be brought to justice.

"I hope somebody has the decency in saying, 'I hurt your daughter.' Because it hurts a lot," Esquivel said.

The city council is considering a measure that would offer automatic rewards in hit-and-run cases in hopes of deterring drivers from leaving the scene of accidents and also bring forward more witnesses in these cases.