The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Philly man sentenced for deadly hit-and-run ‘reign of terror’
NORRISTOWN >> Saying society must be protected, a judge sent a Philadelphia man to prison for more than four decades for his hit-and-run “reign of terror” that included the death of a female chef walking home from her job in the city and the serious injuries suffered by a jogger he struck in Collegeville.
“There is no excuse for what he did to these people. This conduct cannot be tolerated. This man poses a clear and present danger…he’s certainly not a responsible person. He’s not a law-abiding person. Certainly, society needs to be protected from this man. I intend to do that,” Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter said on Thursday as he sentenced Kareem Maurice Welton to 45½ to 91 years in prison.
Welton, 44, of the 1300 block of South 23rd Street, previously pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder, attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault and one count of robbery of a motor vehicle in connection with a series of incidents that began in Philadelphia on July 27, 2021, and ended in Montgomery County where he was apprehended by police on July 28.
The murder charge was related to the death of Adriana Moreno-Sanchez, 31, who Welton struck and killed along the 600 block of South 15th Street in Philadelphia as she walked home from her job as a chef at a local restaurant.
The attempted murder charge was related to the serious injuries suffered by Kyle Joseph Hillegass, the Collegeville jogger who suffered a broken spine and other fractures after being struck by Welton.
“First, I just want to say that I am grateful to be alive and my family and I are safe after going through this traumatic experience,” Hillegass, his voice shaking with emotion at times, told the judge, adding “the freedom of being able to go outside for a walk, a bike ride, a run, has changed for all of us.”
“While I was very blessed that many of the physical injuries have healed, the scars and emotional impact from that day, on myself, my family and friends, still runs deep,” added Hillegass, who was supported in court by his wife and other relatives. “I continue to struggle with the impact on those closest to me, and pray that the anxiety and fear it has caused will dissipate over time.”
During his moving comments, Hillegass said that as a Catholic he is forgiving and despite the pain and fear Welton caused, Hillegass extended forgiveness.
“This is not to diminish the seriousness or to excuse the behavior, but rather to come to closure and move forward with life. In forgiving, I am not forgetting the harm caused…but it is through forgiveness that I find strength to move forward, to heal, and mentally
Kareem Maurice Welton is escorted by a deputy sheriff from a Montgomery County courtroom on March 7, 2024, to begin serving 45 to 91 year prison term.
rebuild and repair what has been broken by this unfortunate event. I want to regain that freedom again without the fear of having
to look over my shoulder,” Hillegass said.
Welton, who was supported in court by his mother and two brothers,
hung his head and looked downward during the hearing.
“I am sorry for that night. If I could take it back I would. I want help,” Welton said in a statement that was read by his lawyer, Gregory Nester.
Assistant District Attorney Kathleen McLaughlin argued for a significant prison sentence, including consecutive terms, for what she called Welton’s “reign of terror” that lasted seven hours and 11 minutes and involved 12 victims, six of whom were “plowed down,” including one who died and one who suffered serious injuries. During a dramatic moment, McLaughlin read the names of each of the 12 victims, including a motorcyclist, a bicyclist and several pedestrians.
“It is horrific to take a vehicle and use it as a weapon. The defendant is dangerous and the community is not safe if he is not incarcerated,” McLaughlin argued. “Each victim has to relive this. He should be held accountable for each one of
those victims.”
The judge’s sentence did include several consecutive terms requested by McLaughlin and co-prosecutor Karla Pisarcik.
“I think Kyle Hillegass, who testified, said it best, that his physical injuries have healed but those scars emotionally and that trauma will be there forever. I think this sentence accurately reflects the impact that the defendant had on each and every one of these victims and their families,” Pisarcik said.
Nester and co-defense lawyer Benjamin Cooper argued for a sentence of 25 to 50 years imprisonment for Welton, to give him hope for parole one day.
“He acknowledges the pain he caused. He accepted responsibility for his actions. This is a tragedy,” Nester argued.
A defense psychologist diagnosed Welton with Schizoaffective disorder and claimed he had a history of severe emotional disturbance and long term drug use, including daily use of
Phencyclidine, or PCP, since his teenage years.
“It was the culmination of all that that led us here today. He didn’t do this crime out of hardness of heart or out of intent to hurt anybody. This was the product of addiction, it was a product of mental health,” Nester said.
Welton’s brothers testified he was a “caring and loving” man when not taking drugs. Several hours before the rampage, relatives, who noticed Welton was acting irrationally, tried to get him psychiatric treatment at a hospital but he was not admitted and was asked to leave when he became unruly. Nester argued “the system failed him.”
Using a state law, Montgomery County authorities prosecuted all of Welton’s criminal behavior, including the fatal hit-and-run that occurred in Philadelphia.
The investigation began about 10:43 p.m. July 27 in Philadelphia when Welton attempted but failed to
“My dad also started volunteering at Centre Square Fire Company when he was 16 years old. So, when I came along, he brought me to the firehouse with him.”
steal a bicycle from a Thomas Jefferson University Hospital public safety officer and then proceeded to Brambrey Terrace where at 11:15 p.m. he stole a 2014 Chevrolet Malibu that had been left running by a woman while she went inside her residence, according to a criminal complaint filed by county Detective Anthony Caso.
At 11:30 p.m. Welton showed up at a family friend’s Philadelphia home and stole a 5-yearold poodle named “Legend” before fleeing in the Malibu, detectives alleged. After stealing the dog, Welton traveled to the area of Lombard and Broad streets where at 2:11 a.m. July 28 he struck a motorcycle, injuring the operator and a passenger, before
continuing to flee in the stolen Chevrolet vehicle.
Welton then traveled along the 600 block of South 15th Street, traveled onto the sidewalk at high speed and struck two people, including Moreno-Sanchez, catapulting her into a telephone pole and killing her.
“The vehicle then travels past Moreno-Sanchez, completes a U-turn, and then drives back directly over Moreno-Sanchez,” Caso wrote in the arrest affidavit, referring to video surveillance footage that captured the incident.
Authorities alleged Welton then forcibly removed a chef’s jacket from the body of Moreno-Sanchez, who worked at STEAK 48, a Philadelphia restaurant, and who had just completed her shift and was walking home when she was struck and killed.
“While her lifeless body lay on
the ground he took her chef coat which belonged to her, which is another insult and just another way to victimize her that night,” McLaughlin said.
Welton eventually abandoned the stolen Chevrolet Malibu in the 1400 block of South Street, and video surveillance depicted him wearing the white chef’s coat and walking with a small, white dog, according to court papers.
At 3:55 a.m. July 28, Welton attempted to pull a woman from her 2017 Acura RDX in the 200 block of South 10th Street but the woman was able to escape. At 4:40 a.m., Welton stole a 2012 Nissan Altima in the 200 block of West Rittenhouse Street and later struck and injured a bicyclist on Umbria Street before traveling into Montgomery County.
At 5:54 a.m., a Collegeville police officer was on routine patrol
when he received a radio broadcast about a stolen Nissan Altima wanted for a vehicular homicide in Philadelphia and was traveling west on Ridge Pike near Main Street. The officer spotted the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed after crossing the Perkiomen Bridge and activated his emergency lights to follow the vehicle.
The officer briefly lost sight of the Nissan Altima and seconds later came upon the 38-year-old Hillegass who was lying injured in the roadway in the 300 block of East Main Street. The officer stopped to assist the injured jogger as the Nissan continued to flee, west on Main Street, according to the criminal complaint.
Hillegass was airlifted to a Philadelphia hospital with severe injuries, including a broken spine and fractures to his ribs and leg. A witness told detectives “there was no question that the driver
intentionally swerved across the road to hit the jogger,” detectives alleged.
Welton eventually traveled to an Exxon station in Trappe, got out of the vehicle, removed a puppy from the backseat and tried to steal a bicycle but was confronted by the owner, detectives said.
An Upper Providence police officer located Welton on foot in the area of Cherry Lane where Welton was taken into custody without further incident. Welton was transported to Phoenixville Hospital where blood tests showed positive results for cannabis and Phencyclidine, or PCP, which is an illegal street drug, according to the criminal complaint.
The Montgomery County SPCA took possession of the dog that Welton stole and the dog was subsequently returned to its owner, court papers indicate.