Arrest Made in Hit-and-Run, Chain-Reaction Crash That Killed Philadelphia Couple

An arrest has been made in a hit-and-run, chain reaction crash that killed a husband and wife.

Shekhroz Mamaatkulov, 25, of Warrington, Pennsylvania, was arrested Monday. He's charged in a crash that killed Carmen Ruiz, 48, and her husband, Juan Lopez Rivera, 50.

Ruiz and Rivera were inside a 2005 Mitsubishi Endeavor traveling on Bustleton Avenue and Red Lion Road on April 20, shortly before midnight.

Police say Mamaatkulov was driving a 2019 Chevy Camaro down Bustleton Avenue at a high speed at the same time and crashed into a 2010 Lexus that was stopped at a red light. Mamaatkulov tried to speed away but then collided with the couple’s Endeavor, setting off a chain-reaction crash involving three more vehicles, police said.

Mamaatkulov then left his vehicle and was picked up by a white Lexus which fled the scene, according to investigators.

Ruiz and Rivera both died from their injuries. Five people in the other vehicles, including two children, had non-life-threatening injuries.

Police identified Mamaatkulov as the hit-and-run driver and located him at Cooper Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was taken into custody. He's expected to be charged with involuntary manslaughter, homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle, and recklessly endangering another person.

“Come and say, at least, ‘I’m sorry.’ I lost my parents,” the couple’s daughter, Cynthia Lopez, said. “They were my life.”

Rivera worked as a handyman for a family business. Family members showed NBC10 video of Ruiz and Rivera dancing at a relative’s birthday party hours before the deadly crash. They said they knew there was a problem when the couple didn’t return their text messages.

“They was the best,” Ruiz’s sister, Veronica Navarro, told NBC10. “They was wonderful people. Innocent.”