A Washington, D.C. carjacking turned fatal after an SUV was stolen from in front of an emergency room and rammed into a building while an ailing woman was still in the passenger seat.
D.C. carjacking suspect kills sick woman
55-year-old Leslie Marie Gaines, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, had just completed a physical therapy session at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital near Howard University.
Her daughter was supposed to drive her home when Gaines began having vision issues and leg problems.
First responders arrived on scene and found no signs of a stroke, noting that her vital signs were normal, except for elevated blood sugar levels.
They offered to take her to the emergency room, but her daughter decided to drive her since it was just around the corner at the same medical complex.
The daughter left the car running at the emergency room entrance with her mother inside, while she went to find a wheelchair.
When she came back a few minutes later, both her mother and the car were missing, so immediately she called 911.
Minutes later, a Metro Police captain saw a white SUV speeding erratically and crash into the building where the U.S. Attorney’s Office are.
The carjacker, 22-year-old Kayla Kenisha Brown, allegedly tried to run away from the scene but was quickly caught.
The captain then found Gaines in the vehicle, unconscious and unresponsive. He attempted to help and transported her to George Washington Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Washington D.C. carjacking suspect was allegedly on drugs
The car thief was also taken to the hospital for injuries from the crash, which was her second trip of the day.
Her parents had called 911 earlier and reported that Brown had been “acting crazy” for days after meeting a man from Instagram and possibly taking a drug.
First responders noted her high heart rate and blood pressure and took her to the same complex where Gaines’ daughter’s car was stolen from. It’s unclear how she managed to get out of the facility.
Surveillance footage showed Brown approaching and driving away with the Gaines’ daughter’s car.
Initially, she faced charges of felony murder, kidnapping, and unarmed carjacking.
However, D.C. Superior Court Judge Heide Herrmann dropped the murder and kidnapping charges, citing probable cause only for the carjacking.
Prosecutors plan to present the kidnapping and murder charges to a grand jury, while Brown’s attorney argued that the car was not taken violently and that Gaines’ exact cause of death remains unknown.
Judge Renee Raymond ordered Brown held without bond at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital, describing her actions as “a dangerous series of actions.”
Gaines’ family are devastated by the sudden and tragic loss. “She’d give you the clothes off her back, the food out of her kitchen if you need, three daughters that loved her to death,” Gaines’s sister, said after Brown’s initial court appearance.
“She didn’t harm nobody. Never had an enemy. You couldn’t find a better person.”
Illegal migrant kills mother-daughter duo in car crash
Elsewhere, a police chief expressed his anger after an illegal immigrant was allegedly involved in a Michigan car accident that resulted in the deaths of a mother and daughter.
Jose Medina-Hernandez, 33, was driving a box truck in a small town just north of Detroit, when he reportedly collided with a Buick Verano, causing a chain reaction that involved at least two other vehicles.
63-year-old Crystal Brunn and her 88-year-old mother, Nancy Richmond both succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash.
Medina-Hernandez was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that have not been disclosed.
He was arrested and slapped on the wrist with two counts of moving violation causing death, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.
He is currently held on $250,000 bond, with no additional court dates scheduled at this time.
While Medina-Hernandez resides in suburb of Detroit, he was later revealed he is an undocumented immigrant, which Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide is sick over.
“I am distraught over the fact that the suspect, Jose Eugenio Median-Hernandez (sic) was found to have no legal status in the country,” he remarked.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) has reportedly been contacted regarding Medina-Hernandez’s case.
“Our office is committed to ensuring that justice is served and that the responsible party is held accountable for their actions in this incident,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in a statement.
