A Philly drug dealer, on the run from police, fled the scene of a fatal crash in Montgomery County, DA says

Marquese Gaines hit a motorcyclist while driving in Norristown one night in August, according to investigators. But he didn’t stick around, they said: He knew there was a warrant for his arrest for his involvement in a local heroin ring.

The motorcyclist, Timothy Manning Jr., later died. And detectives caught up to Gaines weeks later on the drug charges.

Now, DNA has helped detectives fit the two cases together, and Gaines faces additional charges in the the death of Manning, 35, prosecutors said Friday.

Gaines, 29, of Germantown, was charged with failing to stop after a fatal crash, causing a fatal crash while driving without a license, and related offenses. He remained in the county prison Friday, where he has been since September, unable to post bail in the drug case.

He was one of six suspects charged with drug delivery resulting in death and related offenses in March, during a crackdown on heroin dealers by Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele. Five were arrested immediately, but Gaines eluded detectives.

Gaines had been supplying potent heroin laced with fentanyl to dealers in the Norristown area — bundles of the narcotic were stamped with labels such as “Danger” and “Skull Crusher," investigators wrote in court filings. Some of those drugs were involved in a fatal overdose in Montgomery County in 2018, authorities said.

During one of his trips to deliver drugs while on the run last summer, Gaines asked a woman he sold drugs to if he could borrow her car, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. She agreed, trading her Infiniti sedan for crack cocaine, the affidavit said.

Later that night, Gaines pulled out in front of Manning as he drove on East Airy Street in Norristown. Manning was unable to stop, and his motorcycle hit the Infiniti’s front bumper, the affidavit said. Gaines, panicking, ran off and later told the car’s owner about the crash.

Gaines said Manning looked grievously injured, but said he couldn’t contact police or remain at the scene because of the drug case, according to court documents. The woman later reported the car stolen to Philadelphia police.

Months went by, and the car sat in an impound lot. County investigators were contacted by a confidential informant, who told them that Gaines had been behind the wheel of the car that killed Manning.

Detectives collected DNA evidence from a fast-food cup left in the car, as well as on its steering wheel and headrest, the affidavit said. Gaines was a positive match.