Driver in stolen car hits, kills woman in St. Pete hit-and-run crash, police say

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A young mother had to stop on a St. Petersburg roadway when her car starting having issues. Police say when she got out to see what was wrong, a speeding driver in a stolen car hit and killed her, and then took off.

Police are now looking for the driver and possibly a passenger, who ditched the vehicle a few blocks away.

It happened after midnight Monday at 34th Avenue South and Martin Luther King Jr. Street North.

St. Petersburg police said 26-year-old Phelexis Robinson's car broke down on Martin Luther King Jr. Street. She got out of her car and someone driving a stolen Infiniti hit her. 

Police say the Infiniti, stolen from Hillsborough County, was headed south and speeding. The hit-and-run driver kept going for three blocks, and then stopped near 37th Avenue South. Investigators said the driver and at least one passenger got out of the car and ran.

Meanwhile, Robinson leaves behind a small child. Her family is making public pleas for the responsible person to come forward. 

"If you hear me, Lord, please... If you're riding in that car, please have a conscious. Just come in and tell somebody so we can have some kind of closure," said family friend Brenda Jordan.

They are heartbroken to think of what happened to their loved one.

"They just left her there like a dog and that's so wrong on so many levels. She didn't deserve that, nobody deserves that," said Phelexis' cousin, Tiffany Shaw. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the St. Petersburg Police Department at 727-893-7780.