PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A hit-and-run involving a stolen vehicle left a 78-year-old grandmother dead in West Philadelphia’s Mantua section on Wednesday, police say.
Family identified the 78-year-old as Julia Mae Abraham.
According to family members, the Abraham pulled over on the 3700 block of Fairmount Avenue because her sister wanted to buy a lottery ticket at the corner store. While the Abraham was waiting for her sister to come out, a stolen white Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicle plowed into the SUV.
Abraham was sitting inside a silver Mercury Mariner and killed when police say the Jeep crashed into the driver’s side door. Authorities say the vehicle was stolen out of King of Prussia.
“She’s a beautiful woman,” Sylvia Abraham, the daughter of the victim, said. “She cares about everybody. She was amazing.”
The chaos unfolded on Fairmount Avenue near North 37th Street at around 12:30 p.m.
Police say the driver of a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee also crashed into five other parked vehicles, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
“A collision had occurred,” Tyrelle Butler said. “It just literally almost blew the sound out my eardrums. Looking into my side view mirror, I could see one mirror, a vehicle getting hit so fast and so hard and doors sliding out open.”
Butler said he witnessed the horrific crash. He was emotional after learning Abraham didn’t survive and sent his condolences to Abraham’s sister and the rest of the family.
“My prayers go out to her, sadly,” Butler said.
Abraham’s daughter pleads for whoever killed her mother to come forward.
“Give yourself up,” Sylvia Abraham said. “As everyone spoke on it, y’all need to stop hurting innocent people. This world is not meant to be this way. The devil is loose.”
Investigators say the driver in the stolen vehicle abandoned it a block away and took off running. Detectives are still searching for the suspect. They spent hours collecting evidence.
The fatal hit-and-run comes as Philadelphia hit a record number of hit-and-run deaths in 2022 and after a separate hit-and-run that left a 22-year-old man dead in North Philadelphia.
