Published on Sept. 27 | Updated on Sept. 30
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two drivers are facing charges after separate hit-and-run crashes last Friday, Sept. 26, which killed two older women.
The first incident happened around 5 p.m. in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia. Police said 77-year-old Dorothea Cathell was walking back from a ShopRite with Halloween decorations when a person in a black Infiniti Q50 with a paper Delaware tag hit her at 54th Street and Lancaster Avenue.
The driver then reversed down Lancaster Avenue, headed south, and dropped a passenger off at a pizza shop near 56th Street and Girard Avenue.
Cathell was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died about 20 minutes later.
On Monday, police said a person of interest was taken into custody, and they recovered the vehicle, which had cracked molding on the front bumper and grille, a dent on the hood, and a broken windshield.
Police later identified the driver as 47-year-old Michael Harper. He turned himself in and is charged with homicide by vehicle, DUI, reckless driving and related offenses.
"Michael Harper came in to police and told the police that he was told by someone that he was on the news and he wanted to surrender," said Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. "He did make some statement about being under the influence and being unable to remember."
A memorial was placed on the sidewalk near where the incident happened.
Jim Burruss lives down the street and said people often drive dangerously fast on that block.
"I was sitting in my bedroom on the second floor, and I heard something sound like a car crash. It was a bang," Burruss said. "I ran down there. She was just lying in the street and, I don't know, I think it was a nurse or something who stopped to give her CPR until the ambulance came."
"My grandma was a good person. She was loved by the community. Always happy, always positive,” Semaj Suggs, Cathell's grandson, told our newsgathering partners at NBC10.
Another woman, 72-year-old Xiujin Zhao, was struck by a 2004 Dodge Ram just after 7:30 p.m. that evening on Ryan Avenue near Leon Street. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead just after 6 the following morning.
Officers quickly located the vehicle at the intersection of Walker and Levick streets, as well as the driver. "The individual they stopped was identified as being involved. He was arrested for being intoxicated at the time also," said Vanore of Cesar Colon, 55.
Colon is also charged with homicide by vehicle, DUI and reckless driving, among other offenses.