Posted: Tue, 31 May 2011 01:50 PM - 15,823 Readers

By: Andrew Horansky

Courtney Griffin, 30, loved kids and animals.  She was a nanny in her Tarrytown neighborhood, and she worked as a veterinary technician at Lake Austin Boulevard Animal Hospital.

Ellen Jefferson was Griffin’s friend, and she misses her.

“She was always there for anybody who ever needed her for anything,” Jefferson said.  “She was always there, no questions asked.”

“Nobody disliked her,” said Dr. Robert Spitz, friend. “We all loved her very much.”

Griffin died early Friday morning in a hit and run accident, while walking home in the 1600 block of Exposition Boulevard.

Gabrielle Nestande, 23, was later charged for failing to stop and render aid.

According to an affidavit, in the hours after the impact, Nestande left her car with a friend. She said someone threw something at the windshield, and she returned to her job as a legislative aid.

Nestande later told police she had been in an accident, but said she did not know what to do.  She is now out on bond.

Griffin’s friends, meantime, are confounded.

“It is just inhuman to leave someone to die,” Jefferson said.  “This is just inhuman.”

On Monday, Jefferson was among the dozens of Griffin’s loved ones who tried to set frustration and anger aside.  At the scene of her death, they held a vigil.

Flowers, pictures and notes marked the scene of the accident.  Griffin’s dog, Blaze, stood watch.