Pompano mom seeks answers after daughter killed by hit-and-run driver
MIAMI - Police in Tarpon Springs continue to look for a driver involved in the fatal hit-and-run of a 17-year-old Pompano Beach girl.
Mia Schoen was crossing a street early Tuesday morning when she was struck by a silver 2014-2017 Toyota Tundra pickup truck.
The driver of the truck took off from the scene after striking Mia and authorities are urging the public to keep an eye out for any such trucks with front-end damage.
CBS News Miami's Ivan Taylor sat down with Mia's mother, Karin Burkhardt, on Friday.
Burkhardt spoke to Ivan near Mia's car, which had been converted into a makeshift memorial, so Mia's friends would have a place to say goodbye.
"I want this driver to come forward and own up. He plowed into her and left the scene," said Burkhardt.
Burkhardt said her daughter stepped out of the hotel where she was staying with her boyfriend and friends to get hot fries.
Police said she used the crosswalk to get to a store nearby and that's when she was struck.
Burkhardt said Broward Sheriff's Deputies knocked on her door to give her the news that Mia was dead.
"I said, you're kidding right?"
"He goes no. So, I kind of lost my legs at that point."
Tikka and Bean are constant reminders of Mia. They were her dogs, who according to Burkhardt sit by the door waiting for her return.
Mia was planning on moving to Costa Rica with her pets. Now, Burkhardt is planning a funeral.
What keeps this mother going is her yearning for justice. She is confident that someone knows something and is urging the driver and witnesses to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to call police Tarpon Springs police at 727-938-2849.
Tarpon Springs is located Northwest of Tampa.
