Family of Burnaby grandmother fatally struck by driver looking for closure

The family of a Burnaby woman who was struck and killed by the driver of a vehicle last week is looking for answers as to how the crash occurred.

On Nov. 16, Antonietta De Stefano was fatally hit around 11 a.m. at Hastings Street and Rosser Avenue, according to Burnaby RCMP. 

Francesco De Stefano, Antonietta’s grandson, said his nonna, or grandmother, had parked her car and was walking to her dentist appointment across the street when the incident occurred.

Wednesday would have been her 71st birthday, but instead, the family spent it by planning her funeral.

“Losing someone like that is something you really never want to go through,” he said.

De Stefano said his grandmother was the sole caretaker of her husband who has dementia. He said his family is trying to sort out his care and plan their nonna’s funeral, all while trying to understand what led to this tragedy.

“Hopefully we can get some answers,” De Stefano said.

De Stefano said his family has received minimal information from the Burnaby RCMP due to the ongoing investigation.

In a statement to CTV News, Burnaby RCMP said it’s limited in the details it can provide regarding the collision, and can only confirm that all investigative avenues continue to be explored.

According to ICBC crash data, from 2018 to 2022, there have been 47 casualty crashes, or crashes resulting in injury or fatality, at Hastings Street and Rosser Avenue.

On the day the crash occurred, CTV News asked Mounties if the driver remained on scene, and was told by Cpl. Mike Kalanj that he could not confirm if the incident was a hit-and-run at the time.

Since then, the RCMP said the vehicle and driver have been located and that everyone is cooperating. It added that investigators have obtained a large amount of video surveillance that is still being reviewed.

For the De Stefano family, it's information that can’t come soon enough.

“Just something for some closure,” De Stefano said. “Figure out who did it, why did you not stop?”