Accused Hit-And-Run Driver Charged After Woman Killed, Teen Injured On Way Home From Dairy Queen
STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) - A 22-year-old Sterling Heights is facing multiple charges in connection with a fatal hit-and-run accident that investigators believe was influenced by drugs.
Xhuljan Gjinaj appeared in court Wednesday, where he was charged with operating while intoxicated causing death, operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, driving on a suspended license and leaving the scene on an injury accident. Bond was set at $75,000.
The charges stem from an accident that happened Monday night along Ryan Road just north of 14 Mile Road in Sterling Heights.
According to police, 44-year-old Linda Khayya was pushing her 15-year-old son in a wheelchair across the road when both were struck by a Cadillac CTS, which fled the scene. Investigators say the mother and son were returning to their apartment complex after visiting a Dairy Queen.
Khayya was killed and her son was badly injured.
The Cadillac was found abandoned in Highland Park Tuesday morning, and Gjinaj was arrested at his home a short time later.
The accident remains under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to contact police at 586-446-2892.