Camden hit-and-run driver accused of deliberately striking, killing woman

CAMDEN, New Jersey (WPVI) -- A driver is facing murder charges in connection with a hit-and-run crash that left a woman dead last week.

It happened before 3:30 p.m. on September 25 at 7th Street and Tulip Street in Camden.

At the scene, officers found 41-year-old Carla Mahan lying in a grassy lot. She was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

On Tuesday, authorities announced a first-degree murder charge against 30-year-old Ajee Williams. She turned herself into Camden County police on September 28.

According to the criminal complaint, video shows a grey Dodge Durango arriving at the intersection of South 7th and Tulip streets around 3:09 p.m.. Video reportedly shows a pedestrian walking up to the passenger's side of the Durango before walking toward the grassy lot.

The vehicle is then seen reversing before driving over a curb toward the area where the pedestrian was walking.

Investigators allege that Williams deliberately struck Mahan before fleeing the scene around 3:13 p.m.

We spoke with one woman who was there moments after the incident.

"I took her arm to see if she had a pulse. She had a pulse," recalled Shelly Reese, of Camden, NJ.

The vehicle, which authorities say was registered to Williams, was found and later processed for evidence. The criminal complaint states that human tissue, flesh and hair were recovered from underneath the SUV.

"Heartbreaking. It's terrible for somebody to kill somebody, run somebody over and left her for dead," said the victim's aunt, Sylvia Mahan-Hankins.

Mahan-Hankins says she was supposed to see her niece the night of the crash.

"I never heard from her. My brother called me and let me know that she got hit by a car. It was just disbelief," she said.

There may have been children in the vehicle with Williams at the time of the incident. Authorities say video also shows her picking up two children at school and then driving toward the area of the crash around 3:05 p.m.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Detective Daniel Crawford of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit at (856) 580-2223.