A driver struck and killed a teenage girl crossing the street with her mother in West Philadelphia Thursday night and then drove away, Philadelphia police said.
Dawn Watson was crossing Haverford Avenue at 66th Street with her mother around 9:35 p.m. on Sept. 26, 2024, when a dark-colored sedan hit the girl, Philadelphia police said.
The driver -- of what appeared to be a dark-colored Mercedes-Benz sedan -- was speeding eastbound on Haverford Avenue at the time and did not stop after striking the 14-year-old, Philadelphia Police Inspector Michael Gormley said.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
"The sedan knocked the girl away from her mother," Gormley said. "And, unfortunately she succumbed to her injuries."
The girl was knocked a significant distance, Gormley said. Investigators later said the car was going at a high-rate of speed.
Officials said the scene extended over an entire city block.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Dawn's mother was distraught, investigators said.
“The mother was distraught, obviously," Gormley said. "The daughter was knocked a significant distance and the mother had a hard time locating her daughter. We found the mother hysterical a few blocks away.”
Police didn't reveal any more details about the suspected hit-and-run driver.
Data shows deadly impact of pedestrian crashes in Philadelphia
Dawn was the fourth child killed this year after being hit by a car in Philadelphia, according to Open Data Philly. That’s the most children who died this way since 2019, which is the earliest year of public data available.
In total, there have been more than three dozen pedestrians killed in 2024. That’s down 20% from this time last year.
(This map shows where deadly pedestrian crashes happened in Philadelphia.)
Nearly half of pedestrian-involved crashes are hit-and-runs. Thursday night's crash was at least the 18th deadly hit-and-run in the city just this year and there have been more than 120 over the past five years.
Police solve very few hit-and-runs. The data shows they haven't made arrests in 83% of these type of crashes. This year, only two people have been arrested out of the 17 previous hit-and-runs where a pedestrian died.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.