Woman in wheelchair hit by car dies

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - The 64-year-old woman who was killed while crossing the street in her motorized wheelchair late Friday evening has been identified by police.

The victim, Betty Jean Artis, a resident of Chorey Park Apartments, was crossing West Constance Road alone from the Plaza West Shopping Center in the pedestrian crosswalk when she was hit by a Chevrolet SUV.

The last 24 hours have been rough for residents living in Suffolk's Chorey Apartments.

"I didn't sleep much last night," said Margaret Sebrell. "I was just thinking about her."

Their neighbor and close friend is no longer around.

"I feel as if I had lost a member of my family," said friend Coley Copeland.

They say the hurt they feel is for Betty Jean Artis.

"She was a very nice person," Copeland added. "She never gave anybody a problem and she always said nice things."

Artis was confined to her motorized wheel chair. Friends say at least three times a week she would roll out of her apartment and across Constance Road. She was always heading to Hardees. She did the same Friday night, but never made it home.

"Her seat was sitting on the ground and the wheel was sitting in front of the vehicle," Copeland added talking about the crash. "It was just very sad."

Family says Artis was a former nurse and a mother of one.

"I'm going to really miss her," Sebrell added.

40-year-old Ramshami Bakari of the 400 block of Maryland Avenue in Portsmouth was driving the SUV.

Artis sustained head trauma and was transported on the ground to the hospital, where she later died.