Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Driver gets prison for fatal hitand-run
Man pleaded guilty in crash that killed pedestrian
NORRISTOWN >> An apologetic Philadelphia man admitted that he left the scene without rendering aid after he fatally struck a female pedestrian crossing a Cheltenham roadway and he will head to state prison next month.
Terrell Kirby Russell, 27, of the 8000 block of Fayette Street, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a fel
ony charge of accidents involving death or personal injury in connection with the 8:12 p.m. Sept. 27, 2020, crash that claimed the life of 30-year-old Shanna Antoinette Hurdle.
Judge Thomas P. Rogers, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, sentenced Russell to 2 to 4 years in a state correctional facility and ordered Russell to surrender to prison officials at 9 a.m. Nov. 28 to begin serving the sentence.
The judge said Russell will be eligible for the state’s Quehanna Boot Camp, a military-style, motivational and disciplinary program located in Clearfield County.
“I would like to say I’m sorry to the family. It was an unfortunate accident that happened. It’s not a day that goes past that I don’t think about that situation. I’m truly sorry,” Russell said as he faced the victim’s mother in the courtroom.
Stephanie Murdock, the victim’s mother, said she hoped Russell would show remorse in his “heart and soul.”
“It was an accident but it turned into something much, much darker,” Murdock tearfully told the judge. “I wish no harm on him. I just hope he takes this time to be truly sorry. It was a beautiful life he took from me.”
Murdock said her daughter would have turned 33 years old next week.
Russell’s trial had been slated to begin this week but he reached the plea agreement.
Assistant District Attorney Tanner C. Beck sought a state prison term against Russell for the hit-and-run incident, saying Russell exhibited a “complete disregard for the care of the victim.”
“Ultimately, I’m glad he came in here and expressed remorse to the family but at the time he just left her in the middle of the street there without any care or regard for what happened to her. This was a state prison case from day one,” Beck said.
Defense lawyers Anthony J. Petrone and Thomas C. Clemens represented Russell during the hearing.
The fatal pedestrian crash occurred in the westbound lane of Cheltenham Avenue, just east of Ogontz Avenue.
An investigation began when Cheltenham Township police responded to the area for a report of a pedestrian being struck and the striking vehicle fleeing the scene. Arriving officers found Hurdle lying in the westbound left turn lane of Cheltenham Avenue, according to the criminal complaint filed by Cheltenham Detective Sergeant Richard Schaffer and township Police Officer Joseph Morrissey Jr.
“The officers located several broken car parts from the crash and observed a fluid trail leaving the scene,” Schaffer and Morrissey wrote in the criminal complaint.
Officers followed the fluid trail west on Cheltenham Avenue and left onto Upsal Street into Philadelphia and the trail was lost in the area of Upsal Street and Limekiln Pike.
An autopsy determined Hurdle died of multiple blunt impact injuries.
The crash investigation determined Hurdle was attempting to cross Cheltenham Avenue from the north side of the roadway to the south side of the roadway at the time of the incident. Hurdle crossed both eastbound right turn lanes and the westbound through lane and entered into the center left turn lane when she was struck by a westbound 2020 GMC Acadia, according to the criminal complaint.
Hurdle was catapulted 152 feet upon impact, investigators said.
The Acadia braked upon initial contact but didn’t continue braking while proceeding westbound after the impact, according to court documents. The Acadia then arrived at the point of rest of Hurdle and drove over her body as she was lying in the roadway, investigators alleged.
Investigators recovered broken grill parts from the striking vehicle as well as trim parts bearing General Motors part numbers, which assisted police in identifying the striking vehicle.
Footage from area surveillance cameras recorded the crash sequence as it took place, according to the criminal complaint.
During the investigation, authorities gathered a list of all GMC Acadia vehicles owned in Montgomery, Philadelphia, Bucks and Delaware counties and systematically eliminated the vehicles based on trim package information, according to court papers.
Investigators checked more than 100 vehicles during the search.
Investigators then turned to Acadias linked to rental companies that were in the area, which ultimately led them to Russell.
Records obtained from Enterprise Rental revealed Russell had rented the vehicle on Sept. 18, and had not returned it on time, then twice extended the rental contract and still had not returned the vehicle to the rental company by Oct. 13.
Using video footage from local businesses and residential surveillance camera systems, detectives tracked the striking vehicle from fleeing the scene westbound on Cheltenham Avenue, south on Upsal Street, then west on Michener Avenue before losing the vehicle a few blocks from Russell’s residence.
Data obtained from Russell’s cellphone revealed the phone was in the area of Cheltenham Avenue at the time of the crash and the phone traveled the same route after the crash as that depicted in the video surveillance that was obtained, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives alleged Russell knowingly concealed the GMC vehicle in an attempt to mislead law enforcement during the investigation.
“This was a great investigation done by Cheltenham Police Department,” Beck said.
Russell admitted to the most serious charge lodged against him. Other charges of failure to give information and render aid, failure to give immediate notice of accident to police, careless driving, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence were dismissed against Russell as part of the plea agreement.