By:Jerry Burke
"She was just such a fun person to hang with," said her friend Evan, a classmate in ninth grade at H. Frank Carey High School. "She just loved hanging with her friends."
Friends were anxious to talk about Savarese, who was only a few weeks away from her 15th birthday when she was killed by a hit-and-run driver last Friday night. "Everybody loved her," said her friend Nico. "You could say nothing bad about Jayy. She was awesome."
Word of the accident spread quickly among Savarese's friends, who began gathering at the spot almost immediately to console one another. "We just needed somewhere to go and something to do," a girl who declined to give her name said on Saturday. She said many of them had been there since the early-morning hours.
Nassau County Police Homicide Squad detectives said that Savarese, a West Hempstead resident, was crossing Hempstead Turnpike near the intersection of Claflin Boulevard at 10:54 p.m. Friday night when she was struck by a car traveling westbound. She was transported to Winthrop University Hospital, and pronounced dead at 11:17 p.m.
One of her best friends, Tiffany Zinnanti, 15, was at the makeshift memorial Saturday afternoon. Zinnanti said she and another girl were with Jessica the night before. They had just finished eating at Ameche's Restaurant and were crossing the turnpike when Jessica ran ahead.
"We were at the corner [by the Silver Star Diner] and she tried to make it across," said Zinnanti. "It happened so fast."
Zinnanti immediately called 911 on her cell phone. She said Jessica didn't move after she was hit.
Police spokesman Detective Lt. Kevin Smith said Saturday that the Homicide Squad was looking for the driver of the car that hit Savarese, and released a possible description. "We're looking for a dark-colored Ford passenger vehicle, late '80s to early '90s," said Smith. "The auto sustained significant right front-end damage." Police reports further stated that the car could have been a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury.
As of press time, no arrests had been made. Smith said the description of the car was based on witnesses' descriptions, as the Silver Star Diner across the street was filled with customers at the time of the accident. Police are urging anyone with information to call Nassau County Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
The office of the superintendent of the Sewanhaka Central High School District said that about 50 grief counselors would be available to students Monday morning, for the second time in two weeks. On April 20, Carey students Jose Hernandez, 14, and Fermin Bravo, 13, were killed when 82-year-old Vernon Ketcher, of Elmont, drove his Jeep into a Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan in which the boys were being driven to soccer practice.
Savarese is survived by her parents and her older sister. Funeral arraignments were made by the Franklin Funeral Home, and a Mass was held on Tuesday morning at St. Catherine of Sienna Church.
