Delaware Woman Charged In Hit-And-Run That Left Chester Man Dead
MEDIA, Pa. (CBS) -- Pennsylvania State Police have charged a New Castle, Delaware woman with a fatal hit-and-run on the Highland Avenue on-ramp to I-95 in Chester last December.
Two citizen tips led investigators to 46-year-old Tia Jones, who told them she met 46-year-old Ronald Williams at a bar during a party. After several hours of drinking, she got into her car and started driving home.
"She drove her car onto the on-ramp and realized she hit something," Delaware County District Attorney Kat Copeland told KYW Newsradio. "What she did not do was stop, but rather she claimed she neither saw the victim nor saw his car, which was parked on the roadway."
It's alleged Jones hid her car in two different places before police in Delaware found it.
She approached authorities four days after the Dec. 16 accident, which left it impossible to test her blood alcohol level.
But she was driving with a suspended license, and Pennsylvania State Police confirm she had been cited several times in Delaware for doing just that.
Jones faces several charges, topped by accident involving death, which carries a minimum three-year jail term if convicted.
Copeland characterized the incident as "horrifically appalling."
"When you hit a human being such that it causes enough impact for them to hit the car and shatter your sunroof," Copeland added, "and then you drive away, and then on top of that you compound the offense by attempting to hide your car not once but twice? What does that say about you?"
Bail was set at $250,000 for Jones, who must post 10 percent to be released pending trial.
She could get a minimum three years if convicted on charges topped by accident involving death. Other charges include failing to provide aid and to immediately notify police.
