Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed an 8-year-old boy in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. NBC10’s Aaron Baskerville has video of the incident and speaks with the boy’s heartbroken relative.
hat to Know
- Ja-Kha House was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood Monday afternoon.
- The boy was struck by the driver of a white Buick Enclave at 33rd and Huntingdon streets around 4:20 p.m., Philadelphia police said.
- Investigators later found the Buick abandoned on the 4000 block of Balwynne Park Road in West Philadelphia and towed it away. Two men were seen running away from the vehicle, police said.
An 8-year-old boy was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood Monday afternoon.
Ja-Kha House was on 33rd and Huntingdon streets around 4:20 p.m. Monday when he was struck by a white Buick Enclave that was traveling westbound on Huntingdon Street at a high speed, Philadelphia police said.
Ring video from Kenneth Alston's home as well as surveillance video show the speeding SUV striking the 2nd grader and then continuing without stopping.
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"How can you hit a kid, and just keep right on going and not even stop? He didn't even hit the brakes," Alston said.
Police said the boy was launched at least 25 feet to the other side of the block after being struck. Medics performed CPR on Ja-Kha and rushed him to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children where he was pronounced dead at 5:16 p.m.
Police later found the damaged hit-and-run vehicle, unattended, on the 4000 block of Balwynne Park Road in West Philadelphia around 7:15 p.m. and towed it away. Two men had been seen running away from the SUV.
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Ja-Kha's great aunt, who did not want to be identified, told NBC10 the child was with his mother when they went to a corner store just before the crash.
"He was truly loved by everyone on this block," she said. "He was a lovable kid."
No arrests have been made as of Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night, police released photos of a person of interest in the hit-and-run.
Meanwhile, Ja-Kha's aunt had a message for the culprit.
"How would you feel if it was your own child and someone took off after they hit him and knocked him up in the air?" she said. "Do the right thing. You know you did it. Just do the right thing."
If you have any information on the driver's identity or whereabouts, please call Philadelphia Police.
