Woman Killed By Hit-Run Driver On Kensington Sidewalk
By Tim Jimenez, Jenn Bernstein
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- "It's a shame, it really is, Christmas or any other day," said Jerry Yelvert as he walked by the sidewalk outside the Family Dollar on Frankford Avenue. Folks around this part of Kensington were horrified to hear what happened a little after 8 p.m. on Christmas.
A Christmas night hit-and-run left a Philadelphia pedestrian dead, and now police are looking for the driver of the car that hit the woman.
Witnesses say a woman passed out on the sidewalk at the entrance to a parking lot of a Family Dollar around 8:08 p.m. Tuesday on Frankford Avenue near Lippincott Street in Kensington.
"Her boyfriend was trying to get her up, and she wouldn't get up so he just walked away and left her laying there," said Shawn Clay who was nearby.
Isiah Hammond and his brother called police, but quickly saw a disturbing turn of events. A black car, identified as a Dodge Charger, pulled into the parking lot and struck her.
"Then it just like ran her over, and then I yelled, and then it kind of backed up," said Hammond, "It's just a bad sight, the whole thing is just a bad sight."
Police say witnesses saw the driver, believed to be a Hispanic woman in her late 30s to 40s, exited the vehicle then fled the scene. The vehicle was last seen traveling west on the 2000 block of Wishart Street.
Video surveillance taken by a nearby restaurant captured a car minutes before. Police believe it may have been the black Dodge Charger.
The 53-years-old victim, who has not yet been identified, was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 10:57 p.m.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 215-685-3180 / 3181.
