Friends and family gathered at a candlelight vigil Saturday to remember Nilsa Rivera, who was struck and killed by a vehicle Friday night.

Nilsa Rivera was a sister, a mother, a grandmother and an aunt. The 62-year-old was struck on Clifford Avenue at approximately 6:25 p.m. on March 2. She was taken to Strong Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later.  

“I’m going to get some closure and I want justice to be done because this was too cruel to happen to my sister the way it happened," said Lydia Rollins, sister. "If you are there listening to me, come forward, be a man, face what you did."

Family members say Rivera was the type of person to give a quarter to anyone who asked for it. Rollins says her sister didn’t deserve this.

“My sister was a good person," added Rollins. "Everybody loved my sister, everybody around here loved her. She had a good heart; my sister had a good heart. She loved everybody."

Rivera and her sisters all live close to one another and are a big, tight-knit family.

“This is breaking our heart, it’s breaking our heart so bad that’s it’s tearing me apart right now,” added Rollins.

Rollins said that Rivera walked along Clifford Avenue often. She was walking along the south edge of the roadway Friday night. The vehicle was traveling east and didn’t stop after hitting her.

“My sister was walking on the side of the street because the snow, there was too much snow on the sidewalk and she was on the edge of the sidewalk and he just went right through her and my sister flew from the street to the sidewalk,” added Rivera.

The family wanted to light candles in the snow to show her how much they love and will miss her.

“And everyday we’re going to put a light for her because she’s going to be in the light because it wasn’t her time,” added Rollins.