Two women are dead, including one who was launched from the roadway into a nearby home, after a speeding driver hit them in West Philadelphia.
The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Mantua neighborhood near the intersection of 35th and Mt. Vernon streets as the women, 29-year-old Nicole Fundenberg and 58-year-old Zenobia Murray, were picking up takeout with Murray's 14-year-old daughter, her boyfriend and police told NBC10. The girl was also hit and taken to a hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.
Police initially said Fundeberg was 30 and Murray was 57, but their families later provided their correct age to NBC10.
The 19-year-old woman driving the car was going at such a high rate of speed that the crash launched Fundenberg 40 yards from the roadway and through the front door of a home, knocking the door off its hinges as she landed in the living room, Philadelphia Police Department Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Both she and Murray died of their injuries.
Fundenberg's father, Derrick Fundenberg, said his daughter was only a few weeks away from turning 30 and was looking forward to a family get-together.
“She was the sweetest child,” he said as he tried to hold back tears. He and other family members said that speeding is a persistent issue in the neighborhood.
The car came to a stop after plowing into the same home into which it launched Fundenberg. The city’s License and Inspection division later deemed the home, which was unoccupied at the time of the crash, unsafe.
The driver was taken to a hospital, where she was in stable condition, Small said. Police were investigating if she was under the influence at the time of the crash.
