Reporting on pedestrian life in the D.C. area

Dupont hit and run: One woman killed, another to be charged with voluntary manslaughter (VIDEO)

October 7, 2010 - 11:37 AM
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UPDATED, 9:30 a.m. Oct. 7: [Corrections: The victim's age was 24, not 25, and she was pronounced dead at 5 a.m. It also appears the cyclist who took down the tag number may not have known Ryan.]

A woman died early Thursday morning after being hit by a car on Connecticut Avenue NW just south of Dupont Circle as she was getting out of her parked Mercedes around 2 a.m. The driver fled the scene. The victim, identified by D.C. police as Kiela Maria Ryan, 24, of Columbia, Md., died at 5 a.m. at a local hospital.

A witness said Ryan was out celebrating her 25th birthday. The alleged driver, Jorida Davidson, 30, of Chevy Chase, Md., was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in Maryland and will be charged with voluntary manslaughter in the District, according to D.C. police Lt. R.A. Neal.

Someone who saw the hit-and-run pursued the driver on his bicycle and was able to take down the tag number and provide it to D.C. police officers, who traced it back to an address in Chevy Chase, Md. According to ABC 7’s Courtney Robinson, at 2:15 a.m. Thursday District investigators asked Montgomery County police to head to the address to look at a vehicle. In the parking garage of the apartment complex at 4600 North Park Avenue they found Davidson behind the wheel of a parked black Lexus SUV. The engine was off and the keys were not in the ignition.

In the course of their investigation, officers developed enough probable cause to arrest Davidson for driving under the influence of alcohol. She was booked at the Montgomery County police station in Bethesda and later released. The vehicle was impounded.

Around 5 a.m. Friday, Davidson turned herself in to police in the District, where charges are pending. Montgomery police are only handling the DUI element of the case; D.C. police will be handling the rest of the investigation.

We'll continue to update this story. (Earlier updates are after the jump.)

UPDATE, 11:16 a.m.: ABC 7's Courtney Robinson tells us D.C. investigators asked Montgomery County police to go to an address in Chevy Chase to check out a car. When they arrived, they found a black Lexus SUV in the parking garage with a woman behind the wheel with the engine off and keys not in the ignition. During their investigation, officers developed enough probable cause to arrest the woman for DUI. She was booked in Bethesda.

UPDATE, 11:05 a.m.: A Montgomery County police spokesperson says they took a female into custody on allegations of drinking and driving in the county. The woman refused to take a Breathalyzer test.

UPDATE, 9:45 a.m.: Mike Rudd reports that the alleged driver's car, a black SUV, has apparently been towed from the garage of an apartment complex in Chevy Chase and the driver has been taken to D.C.'s Second District police station for questioning.

ORIGINAL: A woman was hit by a car just south of Dupont Circle early this morning and died around 7 a.m. The driver fled the scene but a witness was able to provide police with a partial or complete tag number.

A witness told ABC 7 that the victim was out celebrating her 25th birthday. She stepped out of her Mercedes parked on the 1300 block of Connecticut Avenue NW when she was hit. It appears the crash occurred on the northbound side of the street, right where traffic splits to head either beneath the circle or around it. The right side of the street here — where the victim would've been parked — is very tight, and the cars remaining above ground drive right alongside the cars parked in meter spots along the curb.

As of this morning, Montgomery County police were assisting D.C. police and had headed to the 4600 block of North Park Avenue in Chevy Chase, possibly in pursuit of the driver.

We'll update as we learn more. The original ABC 7 updates are here.

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