'She's A Super Mom': Family Mourning Young Army Veteran Killed In Violent Crash On Roosevelt Boulevard
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A young mother is the victim of a deadly crash on Roosevelt Boulevard early Sunday morning. Philadelphia police say 23-year-old Lisherrah Rankins was killed in a fiery crash on Roosevelt Boulevard, near Grant Avenue, around 1:30 a.m.
"She was just a loving person. She took care of our daughter for the past few years like super mom. She was a super mom," Zuriel Campbell said. "She was always there for her kid."
Now, Campbell needs to find the words to tell his 2-year-old daughter that her mother will not be coming home.
"Around 4 a.m. cops woke me up out of my seat, knocked on my door," he said. "I was really distraught at the time, I was surprised. They came into the house, they said I need to sit down and they told me she was in a fatal accident and they gave me her military ID, which is all mangled up."
Police say a 39-year-old male driver rear-ended Rankins, whose car appears to have slammed into a tree before catching fire.
CBS3 has been told that the Army veteran died at the scene.
"One of the vehicles -- the striking vehicle -- was traveling at a high rate of speed, according to witnesses. Vehicle number two was rear-ended and appears to have struck a tree, the operator of that vehicle was pronounced at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was transported to the hospital and is in extremely critical condition," Philadelphia Police Capt. Thomas Davidson said.
Police say he was critically injured and taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital.
Campbell says Rankins went out around 10 p.m. Saturday night.
"Went to sleep thinking she'd come back home," he said.
Police told the Campbell that Rankins' body was burned beyond recognition.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The city planned to install speed cameras along Roosevelt Boulevard by the end of this year to prevent tragedies like this.
But the city says it's been delayed until spring.
