TACOMA, Wash. — Family and friends of a Tacoma woman are searching for answers after she was found along a busy road unconscious and later died from her injuries in the hospital.
"She was just such a beautiful soul,” said Luke Mann. “She was very caring, and she cared about everyone around her."
Mann is mourning the loss of his beloved cousin, 32-year-old Brittanee Parker who was killed while taking her dog out in early October, he said.
"Heartbroken,” said Mann. “The entire family's heartbroken.”
According to the Tacoma Police Department, officers responded on Oct. 4 to an intersection in the city's Hilltop neighborhood around 7:30 a.m. for a woman lying in the road.
"She had looked like she was hit by a car," said Breelle Buegler, who spotted Parker, unconscious and bleeding.
Buegler said she immediately used her car to block other cars from driving by as she got out to see what she could do to help.
She called 911 and Parker was taken to the hospital, where she later died.
"She's a human being,” said Buegler. “She deserves sympathy, she deserves the love. I haven't stopped thinking about it.”
Tacoma police said the incident was initially investigated as a fatality hit-and-run. But police said it's still unclear if parker was the victim of homicidal violence because the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office has not determined the cause of death yet.
"If people want to put flowers here and remember her,” said Mann of ways people could honor Parker's life. “I know she would really love it.”
Family and friends continue to seek justice.
"We love you and we miss you so very much,” said Mann. “We're not looking for vengeance or anything, we're just looking for answers."