Credit: Montgomery County District Attorney.
Asiyah Sara Mowatt-Mays, 19, of the unit block of West Durham Street in Philadelphia, will face up to 23 months in prison for causing a crash while speeding and operating a stolen car that killed a 15-year-old boy and seriously injured a 14-year-old boy who were passengers in the car, according to a report.
Mowatt-Mays pleaded guilty on Monday to the incident that occurred on July 29, 2024, at the intersection of Stenton and Evergreen avenues in Springfield Township in Montgomery County. Judge Steven T. O’Neill oversaw the case and additionally ordered Mowatt-Mays to complete four years of probation.
Authorities said Mowatt-Mays, who was 18 at the time, caused the crash while she was speeding, driving without a license, and ignoring a red traffic signal.
The Incident
Mowatt-Mays initially told police she was a rear-seat passenger of a red, 2020 Hyundai Elantra, when it struck a white 2014 Infiniti QX80 July 29, 2024, as they responded to a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Stenton and Evergreen avenues in the Wyndmoor section of Springfield Township around 4:51 a.m., reports stated.
Responding officers said that, upon arrival, a male driver was stuck in the Infiniti, requiring the fire department to extract him via mechanical means. The two cars were both found on their sides, the Infiniti on its left and Hyundai on its right, after coming to uncontrolled rest, with each off the roadway having sustained severe damage, reports stated. Police said that the vehicles both had headlights on and that loud music was still coming from the Hyundai.
Police said that, upon arrival, the Hyundai was unoccupied, but that they’d observed Mowatt-Mays walking around the scene of the accident with “severe facial injuries and blood on her clothing.” Two more teens were found, unconscious, on a nearby sidewalk, one a 14-year-old male along Stenton Avenue and another a 15-year-old male near the curb of Evergreen Avenue, said reports. Both, police said, were ejected from the Hyundai upon impact. The 15-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, while the 14-year-old juvenile was taken to Einstein Hospital for medical evaluation.
Mowatt-Mays, who had blood on her clothing and severe facial injuries, was ordered to sit down, as emergency responders tended to blood coming from her head and chest, reports said.
Mowatt-Mays was taken to Einstein, as well, and later transferred to Wills Eye for evaluation of injuries to her right eye, police said. The 14-year-old was later transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Main Campus with life-threatening injuries, said reports.
According to reports, detectives received consent to retrieve downloads from each car via a Crash Data Record device, which determined the Infiniti was traveling at 60 mph in a 40-mph zone on Stenton Avenue prior to the crash. The teens were traveling 47 mph in a 25-mph zone, just five seconds prior to the crash, according to reports. The investigation also determined, according to police, that the teens were not wearing seat belts at the time of the accident.
Detectives determined that a black, Adidas Yeezy sneaker was under the brake pedal of the Hyundai, reports stated. The seat was also very close to the steering wheel, police said, with the back in an upright position. Mowatt-Mays, police said, was only 5 feet tall, while both teen boys were over 5’7” in height, meaning the likely driver was Mowatt-Mays.
Post-crash inspections determined that a small section of the windshield of the Hyundai contained blood evidence, which police matched with Mowatt-Mays’s sample via preliminary DNA testing, reports stated. The samples, police added, were sent to the Pennsylvania State Police for additional analysis and confirmation.
A crash investigation concluded that Mowatt-Mays, while driving 47 mph northbound on East Evergreen failed to stop at a steady red signal while operating a stolen vehicle, then striking the Infiniti, said reports. The Infinity was traveling at 60 mph, while traveling east on Stenton. No occupants in either vehicle were wearing seatbelts, police said.
