New details of victims in two fatal hit-and-runs: police
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Two people are dead after two separate hit-and-run crashes in Philadelphia Sunday night. There are new details about the victims Monday as police continue to search for the drivers responsible.
The hit-and-run deaths happened within hours of each other as both victims were just trying to make their way home.
Since the accident, police have reached out to the family of 43-year-old Savoun So.
However, they believe 31-year-old Eduardo Jimenez is an immigrant from Mexico and has no family members in the country. Investigators are working with his roommate to hopefully get in touch with the family.
As the city comes off a year recording its highest hit-and-run deaths, according to police 2023, is off to a dark start. In one night, two people lost their lives at the hands of negligent drivers.
"It's horrible what's happening here in Philadelphia," one person said.
The first is in South Philadelphia. Police say So was struck Sunday just after 5:30 p.m. by a silver SUV while crossing Oregon Avenue near 6th Street. Investigators say she died on the scene and lived about a block away from where it happened.
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, says she was sitting on her front porch when she witnessed the car leave the scene after the crash.
"They were going so fast that the impact sounded like a blowout on the 95, if not louder," the witness said.
About three hours later in North Philly, police say Jimenez was killed while riding his bike on Berks Street. Investigators say he was hit head-on by a white cargo van that turned onto Howard Street.
Surveillance video shows the van driving away from the scene.
"It's obvious from the video that something was felt," Mark Overwise, with the Philadelphia police crash investigations unit, said.
Overwise said neither of the drivers was speeding and there's a possibility rain may have been a factor, but he continues to say that does not excuse these drivers from leaving the scene of an accident.
"You may not have committed a crime to cause that crash, however, when you leave you do commit a crime," Overwise said. "I just want to press on everyone to think twice about making that decision to leave the scene."
