The victim in a fatal hit-and-run outside the San Diego Convention Center was just getting her life back on track before her death, her brother said Wednesday.
Yolanda Gardner, 50, was struck by a vehicle near the corner of Harbor Drive and 5th Avenue just before 4 a.m. Monday.
She sustained severe head trauma along with broken bones. Her family says she has been declared clinically dead.
Gardner was a mother of four who was raised in San Diego in a large family of 12 other siblings. She was living in a downtown apartment with her boyfriend and had just gotten a job, according to her brother Richard Trisby.
He said he’s not sure why his sister was crossing the street at that time of day. The nearest crosswalk was located 25 feet away from where officers collected evidence.
She may have been going to work or going to get something to eat, Trisby said.
“My guess is that she had some kind of determination to do something,” he said.
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Gardner leaves behind four children. One is 13 years old and lives with an aunt. The other three children are adults.
Her sisters saw television news reports of the fatal collision without knowing it was a member of their own family who had been killed.
Now the family is hoping the person responsible will come forward.
“That’s the devastating part of me – you didn’t care enough about a human life to sit and wait or try to get some type of help,” Trisby said.
A car traveling westbound struck Gardner. San Diego Police described the suspect vehicle as "a small silver Ford with front-end damage including the headlight assembly."
As of Wednesday morning she was on life support at UCSD Medical Center while doctors search for patients in need of organ donations.
Tribsy said the family is hoping doctors can find a successful match.
"I believe she sees me now talking about her and she smiles," her brother said. "I feel in my heart I'm doing the right thing for her.”
Once the organ donation process is complete and the police investigators are able to gather what they need, the family said they will plan funeral services.
Anyone with any information on this case can call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.
