Hit-run suspect is arrested
Nearly three months after 16-year-old Faith Sinclair was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Delaware County, authorities yesterday arrested the man who they believe was behind the wheel and left her to die that August night.
Nearly three months after 16-year-old Faith Sinclair was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Delaware County, authorities yesterday arrested the man who they believe was behind the wheel and left her to die that August night.
Lemuel Payne, who is charged in Sinclair's death, stood silently before Magisterial District Judge Edward Gannon Jr. as Kimberly Ferrell, the mother of the Ridley High School honor student, buried her face in her son's shoulder.
"She was incredible," said Ferrell, who wore a shirt with the words "Gotta Have Faith" printed on the back.
Payne, 27, of Upper Darby, is charged with leaving the scene of a deadly accident, a felony that carries a one-year mandatory minimum prison sentence, and tampering with evidence.
Police say Payne - who was charged in 2005 for DUI in Philadelphia and entered an accelerated rehabilitative disposition program for first-time offenders - hit Sinclair on Aug. 3 while she was trying to cross Chester Pike, then sped off in his S-class Mercedes Benz.
Sinclair, a former cheerleader for the Sharon Hill Ramblers football team and an aspiring special-education teacher, was pronounced dead at the scene.
"He knew that he struck a living person," said Delaware County District Attorney G. Michael Green.
Green said that Payne contacted his boss at Deer Park in Pennsauken two days after the accident and told him that "he was in trouble" and had hit a young girl with his car. But Payne called back the following day and told him to "disregard their conversation" about the incident, Green said.
When police found Payne's damaged Benz - it was hidden beneath blankets in his mother's garage with the license plate removed - he lawyered up instead of coming forward.
Prosecutors reportedly empaneled a grand jury to build their case against him. Green declined to comment on the grand jury, but he said the investigation continues to determine if there was a passenger in Payne's car at the time of the accident.
Payne, who turned himself in yesterday morning, wearing jeans and a hoodie, had nothing to say as he was led from district court. Neither did his attorney, Mark Much.
Gannon set bail at 10 percent of $750,000 with electronic home monitoring. Deputy District Attorney Greg Hurchalla attempted unsuccessfully to have bail raised to $1 million cash, arguing that Payne had tried to conceal the crime by hiding the car and asking his boss not to rat him out.
Sinclair's brother, Scott, stormed out of the courtroom as Much argued against a bail increase. "This is making me sick," he said.
"Nothing will bring her back," said Sinclair's uncle Frank Daly. "Hopefully, the memory of a very good person will live on, and we can all take from this and love our families a little closer and hug our children and take each day as they come - and be very, very thankful for what we have."
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Sharon Hill police at 610-237-6200. *
