Though she was only 15 years old, Aaliyah Kalimullahdunn's mother said she was outgoing, outspoken and firm.
"Dance, wrestle, play-fight with her brothers, she was the baby and she was a tomboy," said Makia Thompkins.
"She was so young and she was a good kid," said friend and neighbor Keyonna Calhoun.
The teen on Tuesday evening had been cooking dinner for her great-grandmother, who is battling cancer, when she went to run an errand. She was crossing Ashland Avenue near 80th Street around 9:15 Tuesday night when a light-colored, possibly gold minivan struck her, police said.
"They threw my baby up in the air," said Thompkins. "She hit the ground, her head bounced off the ground, two weeks before her birthday."
Police said that after the impact the van stopped and the passenger opened the door to look at Kalimullahdunn injured on the ground, then took off. The Thornton Township High School sophomore was pronounced dead at the hospital about 40 minutes later.
"I don't understand because if I see a dog or a cat run in the street, I hit my brakes," Thompkins said.
"She's never going to get a chance to go to prom. She's never going to get a chance to experience a wedding dress because someone took her life at the age of 15," said longtime family friend, Terri Fountain.
As friends and family mourn, they also call on the driver and any witnesses to come forward.
"You left a 15-year-old child on the ground like you ran over a squirrel," said Fountain. "That's wrong."
The Chicago Police Major Accidents Investigation Unit is investigating the hit-and-run. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
"If anyone knows who hit my child, just please turn them in. Driver, turn yourself in," Thompkins said.
Update: Police late Wednesday offered a better description of the hit-and-run driver
