Woman speaks out after horrific DUI crash that killed boyfriend, unborn child
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A woman involved in a horrific crash is speaking out a week after police say a suspected DUI driver slammed into the vehicle she was riding in, killing her boyfriend and her unborn child.
Police say 42-year-old Charles Smith was high on PCP and under the influence of alcohol when he was driving nearly 100 mph on the 4900 block of Whitaker Avenue around 10 p.m. on May 13.
Smith crashed into an SUV occupied by Tony O'Connor and his girlfriend, Kimberly Hartz, who was five months pregnant.
O'Connor died in the wreck. Police say Hartz's unborn child also didn't survive.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Hartz, who had to have her leg amputated, says she and Tony had known each other since high school and had been together four years.
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"He meant everything, he was my everything, you know when things got hard, he was always there for me," said Hartz.
O'Connor and the baby's funeral is scheduled for Thursday, but the hospital staff tells her she's not well enough to go.
"I've been crying literally all day. I wanna be able to go say bye to my boyfriend, my baby's father and my baby, and I can't," said Hartz.
Hartz's father, Van Newman, says what's also so very sad is because of her injuries, she had to have a hysterectomy after waiting till the age of 30 to have her first child.
"She saw friends having teenage babies, her mom and I were teenagers, so she didn't want to do that to her kids, that's why she waited. And now she's never going to be able to," said Newman from his home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Newman, who is an Uber driver, says accidents like these are the reason he gets up at 3 a.m. each morning so people don't have to drive home under the influence of something.
"It's not worth it if you kill someone, or ruin somebody's life for the rest of their lives," said Newman.
Meanwhile, Hartz is still hoping somehow to make it to the funerals Thursday.
"I'm hoping that I can get him cremated holding the baby so he and the baby can be in heaven together," he said.
Meanwhile, Smith who has been in and out of jail on drug charges since 1997, is being held without bail on charges of murder, homicide by vehicle while DUI, among other related offenses.
Police say Smith and his female passenger were not hurt in the crash.
