‘She cared for others’: Easter hit-and-run victim remembered in Las Vegas

A 41-year-old woman killed in an Easter hit-and-run was all about her kids and rehabilitating abandoned animals, relatives said.

The Metropolitan Police Department has said that, around 10:20 p.m. on April 20, pedestrian Natalie Burton was struck by an SUV driven by Dora Henderson, 22, on West Tropicana Avenue just east of South Conquistador Street.

Police have said that Burton may have been “kneeling or lying in the road.”

Burton’s niece, Jessica Ayala, said Burton’s life revolved around her three kids and her family. Ayala said she had fond memories of attending concerts with Burton and her oldest daughter, Madison, who is 23. Burton also had two children who are minors, Ayala said.

“She always has a smile,” Ayala said. “We were a kooky bunch, so there wasn’t anything more she loved than spending time with us. That’s how she’ll be remembered.”

Madison Burton said her mom worked at a matchmaking company and also owned a dog kennel business. She and Ayala described Natalie Burton as compassionate and warm, always putting others before herself.

“Even when it did not benefit her, she cared for others,” Madison Burton said. Ayala added that Burton took in cats, dogs and even an old tortoise without a home.

Madison Burton said that her mom also struggled with bipolar disorder in the final few months of her life, adding that she may have been experiencing a manic episode while walking to meet her ride the night of the crash.

Ayala said that since Natalie Burton’s death, they have been “taking it one day at a time.” A GoFundMe account that Ayala created for Burton’s daughter and other two children has raised roughly $4,000 since April 24.

The donations would help the family pay for memorial and funeral expenses, Ayala said.

Asked about authorities’ allegations that Henderson did not stop after the crash, Ayala said she could not wrap her head around what happened to her aunt that night. Henderson told police that she thought she had “hit a boulder,” pulled into a parking lot and spotted damage to her front bumper.

Madison Burton called Henderson’s actions “careless.”

“She could have called the police and told them she had been in an accident. Even if you thought it was a rock, you would stop and check it out,” Ayala said. “We don’t understand her train of thought.”

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.