Who is Soon Kim? Horrific footage shows LA grandma, 91, killed in hit-and-run accident
LOS ANGELES: A great-grandmother was run over and killed by a truck on Monday, August 2. She was 91-years-old. The LAPD has now released the surveillance footage of the horrific incident in an attempt to identify the driver, who is said to be a female.
Soon Kim was on her morning walk at 7am and crossing an alleyway using a walker when a driver backed up and ran over her and fled the scene. In a similar incident, a Pennsylvania woman, Dolly Hendrickes, 40, received a life sentence in prison for killing her boyfriend, Andres Claudio, 68, by running him over with a minivan and dragging his body for 30 feet before fleeing the scene. Anna Marie Choudhury, 33, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of 38-year-old John Thomas McGuire, who was her sister Amanda McClure's boyfriend in April this year. A 40-year-old New York man, Seth Larson, was arrested for allegedly killing his 37-year-old girlfriend Lisa Shuler in June.
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The LAPD is on the lookout for the female driver, who came out from her vehicle and looked at Kim’s dying body for three minutes before driving away, reports say. The Surveillance footage released by the LAPD showed the woman driving a pickup truck loaded with bulky objects, which apparently obstructed her view. As the truck moved toward Kim, she was unable to get out of its way in time to save her life. The driver stopped the truck once she realized she hit something and got out. She walked to the back of the truck where she saw Kim's body and moved it to the side of the road. The suspect then got back into her truck and drove away.
Soon Kim succumbed to her injuries in hospital later that day. Kim's family has urged the suspect to identify herself as they seek closure over her death. Kim's grandson Rich Henderson told KABC, "If you made an honest mistake by running her over please turn yourself in. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the human things to do." According to Henderson, Soon Kim was a South Korean immigrant with two children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. She was widowed aged 25 and raised her children on her own.
Henderson further said, "To die in such a horrific way - we were expecting the call at 91 years old that she had died peacefully in her sleep. To get that call (instead) is truly heartbreaking. Our grandmother lived a very full life, a very happy woman. Lived for her family, her grandkids." He added, "She really had a tough life. Her perseverance through life inspired all her children and her grandchildren." A reward of $50,000 is offered for any information that might lead to the driver's arrest and conviction.