CRuEL TRuTH
Kin mourn hit-run ma after finally telling kid of death
LITTLE LAILA SANCHEZ wore glasses and a lost expression Monday at the packed funeral for her beloved Brooklyn mom, who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver last month.
For more than a week, relatives shielded the 5-year-old from the brutal truth that her mom, Evedette, Sanchez was never coming home.
Dad Willie Evans finally broke the heartbreaking news to the couple’s youngest child two days ago.
“It’s been excruciating and overwhelming,” Evans, 44, told the Daily News outside the emotional service.
An SUV hit Sanchez, 39, while she was in a crosswalk at the intersection of Louisiana and Flatlands Aves. in East New York around 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 28.
Police said the driver plowed into the popular mother of three, pulled over, looked at her crumpled body, climbed back in and bolted.
Evans said Laila needed the extra 10 days believing her mom was still alive to process the loss.
“I had to break the news to her in increments,” Evans said. “Had I told her when it happened and how it happened, it would probably be even more tragic on her. So I had to give it to her like she’s sick in the hospital and she didn’t make it,” he said at the Brooklyn Funeral Home in Brownsville. “It’s a delicate situation.” Hundreds paid their last respects Monday as Sanchez lay in a brilliant white open coffin with a tiara of hearts atop her long black hair. She was surrounded by massive bouquets of roses as R&B and gospel music played in the background. “If I said everything about her, it wouldn’t be enough. She was beautiful,” Evans said of his wife. “You wouldn't believe Evedette. If you knew her, you would know why everyone is here.” He recalled her penchant for wearing a cape to “make everybody smile, even when they didn’t want to smile.”
Evans said he wants justice for his wife’s death and asked anyone who might have information to contact authorities.
He described the vehicle as a 1995 to 1999 Chevy SUV, likely a Tahoe, with tinted windows. “We need to catch this guy,” he pleaded.
“Yeah, I miss her,” cousin Peggy Paris said Monday. “It was very hard to hear she got hit by a car and killed. It’s been very hard. She was very friendly and a good person. And now her kids — that’s the sad part. Her kids missing her.”
Sanchez also leaves behind two teenage children, Maurice, 16, and Arianna, 15.
“We lost a sister, cousin, mother, wife,” said Jeff Zeno, another cousin. “Just give yourself up, man. The family shouldn’t have to go through any of this at all.”