‘A beautiful person’: 81-year-old Brooklyn widow fatally struck by SUV three blocks from home

An elderly Brooklyn woman, described by neighbors as a traditional Italian widow who lived alone, was struck and killed by an SUV as she crossed a street last month, police said Friday.

An Infiniti SUV slammed into Maria Zuardo, 81, on 20th Ave. at Bay Ridge Ave. in Bensonhurst at 8:30 a.m. on April 19, cops said.

The grandmother was knocked onto the pavement just three blocks from home and rushed to Maimonides Hospital, where she died the next day, police said.

The motorist remained at the scene, and no charges have been filed.

Longtime neighbor Francesco Santoro, who said he chatted with Zuardo in their adjoining backyards, last saw her heading out to shop on the morning she was hit.

“She was going to get food. We said ‘good morning’ to each other,” said Santoro, 75, who lived next to Zuardo for nearly 40 years.

“It was very hard for me when she died. I respected her so much,” he added. “She was a beautiful person, just a beautiful person.”

She lived alone ever since her husband died about 20 years ago, he said.

Another neighbor called Zuardo a “true Italian woman” who wore black every day after her husband died.

Zuardo was a familiar sight walking with her grocery cart to go shopping or to a local Catholic school to pick up her granddaughter Claudia, whom she helped care for, the neighbor said.

“She found out that I had a major surgery, and then she would always ask me how I was,” the neighbor said. “She would ask me if I’m taking my medication.”

The 42-year-old SUV driver was traveling east on Bay Ridge Ave. and turning left turn onto 20th Ave. when she struck Zuardo, police said.