Girl, 17, killed in hit-and-run on Roosevelt Blvd. ID'd
SUMMERDALE (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police have identified the 17-year-old girl who was struck and killed on the Roosevelt Boulevard in the Summerdale section late Monday night.
It's a crash that is also raising serious questions about the safety of the intersection where it happened.
Markalyah Jackson, 17, from 4900 block of North Boudinot Street, was hit in a crosswalk on the Boulevard at Adams Avenue just after 11:30 p.m.
Her father is pleading for someone to come forward.
"Come forward, just come forward. This is very overwhelming, I can't barely speak right now. I'm at a loss for words. I just want the person who hit my daughter to come forward," Khaliff Jackson said.
Investigators say she was crossing with the green light when she was struck by a minivan.
The impact of the crash caused her to hit the front windshield, and she was then thrown some two hundred feet, police said.
Medics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Investigators believe the striking vehicle is a white or silver minivan. It was last seen heading east on Adams Avenue.
"Perhaps somebody sees a minivan with recently, just since this morning, shattered front windshield," said Capt. John Wilczynski.
This portion of the Boulevard is particularly dangerous.
At Adams Avenue, the pedestrian gets the go ahead, and cars making the right turn onto Adams get a green light, all at the same time.
That was the situation when Jackson was hit.
"All the driver had to do was just stop because the driver had a green light - as did the pedestrian," said Wilczynski.
PennDOT, which oversees the Boulevard, a state highway, said it will work with the city to review the traffic light set up at the intersection.
Police said until the lights are changed, it's up to motorists and pedestrians to keep an eye out for each other.
"The car should and has to slow down and allow that person to continue on but, on the other hand, if the car's in the process of making that turn from the Boulevard onto Adams- The pedestrian can't just walk out," said Ofc. Bill Lachman.
According to PennDOT, in the last five years, there have been 45 crashes at this intersection with two involving pedestrians. None were fatal until Monday night.
