Authorities are searching for a woman wanted for a high-speed hit-and-run crash that killed a man in South Los Angeles.
The suspect was identified as Cierra Denae Whitaker, 24, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The deadly crash occurred on July 5 at the intersection of 91st and Figueroa Streets in the Vermont Vista neighborhood around 9:15 p.m.
Video captured the moment Whitaker, who was driving a Porsche sedan, ran a red light and slammed into the victim’s car at nearly 100 miles per hour.
The victim, Emerson Gonzalez Escobar, 25, was trapped inside his car. Video showed a dozen bystanders rushing to his vehicle to extricate him from the wreckage, but they were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bystanders filmed Whitaker and her two female passengers stepping out of the Porsche, grabbing their belongings from the trunk and fleeing the scene on foot, abandoning their car in the middle of the road.
As witnesses continued recording Whitaker with their phones, the woman began yelling and appeared to try and take a bystander’s phone.
“It’s sad when you see this video because we believe Emerson was killed instantly,” said LAPD Detective Ryan Moreno at a Sept. 4 press conference. “There was zero concern at all [by the suspects] for this guy. You’re just involved in this collision that’s 100 percent your fault and you have no respect at all for this person or any human decency to walk over and just check on them,” Moreno said.
Investigators also said the Porsche didn’t belong to the suspect. After fleeing the scene that night, she remains on the run.
On Sept. 4, authorities announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to Whitaker’s arrest. Detectives said she is known to frequent the areas of Orange County and Las Vegas.
“This lady is a known prostitute who works the area over there in Los Angeles on the Figueroa corridor,” Moreno said.
As for the victim’s family, Moreno said they are “absolutely devastated and it’s a bit harder for them knowing that the suspects responsible are still out there.”
It’s unclear whether drugs or alcohol played a factor in the deadly crash. Anyone who knows Whitaker’s whereabouts or has information on the case is urged to call the LAPD at 1-877-527-3247.
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