Green vehicle sough in deadly Tampa hit-and-run

TAMPA (FOX 13) - The family of 19-year-old Mostafa Abdalla says he was still alive for hours after he was hit by a vehicle around 10:30 Sunday evening. 

Abdalla later died and Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies are now looking for a 1998-2002 green Dodge full-size truck with a missing side-view mirror in connection to the incident. 

Between Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning, deputies say Abdalla was walking south on Orient Road, north of Hanna Avenue in Tampa when he was hit. 

Detectives found a passenger side mirror at the scene, believed to be from a teal green vehicle.

His family said he was on the way home from his mosque.

Abdalla's sister, Mariam vowed to get justice for her brother during a press conference Wednesday. 

"He still had life in him, but to imagine him laying there lifeless just hurts me," she said through tears. "He still had life in him."

Mariam asked "how heartless can you be," to the suspect or suspects connected to her brother's death. 

"To let someone lay there form 10:30 to two in the morning?" she asked.

Monday afternoon, Abdalla's close friends gathered at the scene of the crash.

"What he did, he murdered somebody, and not only that, he killed us all because we are all devastated by it," said Salman Jalabi. "I would switch places with him right now. Without a doubt in my mind."

"He's only 19 and just knowing he is just gone like that," said Farres Hawasli. "It was the first time I ever burst out in tears and I never cry."

They say Abdalla was an uplifting person who was always smiling. He played basketball, loved to cook, and aspired to major in culinary arts.

"He was a real inspiration to me. He always taught me right from wrong," Jalabi said.

Friends and family are praying an arrest comes soon for his case.

"If you're watching right now, you're an animal and you should be ashamed," said Hawasli. "If you really didn't want to get in trouble, the least you could've done is call the police or ask someone else to call the police."

Anyone who has seen a vehicle with front end damage or missing a side mirror is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477), report anonymously online at www.crimestopperstb.com or send a mobile tip using our P3 Tips Mobile application, which is a free download for iPhones, iPads and Android.