Suspect In Oakland Hit And Run That Killed Mother Of 7 Arrested In Los Angeles
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Police in Oakland confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run collision in January that killed a mother of seven has been arrested in Los Angeles.
Oakland police tweeted on the department's official account that 26-year-old suspect Henry Melendez had been arrested in Southern California by U.S. Marshals.
It was a Friday afternoon on January 17, when Miesha Singleton, the mother of seven children, was crossing the street. She was inside the crosswalk when Melendez passed another vehicle that was stopped, yielding to allow Miesha to pass, according to police.
"The guy didn't want to wait. He went around the traffic at a high rate of speed and he struck her as she was crossing the street," says her cousin, Bobby Dell.
Singleton was pronounced dead at the scene, while two of her children were waiting in the nearby car.
Since the fatal accident, last January, Oakland has installed plastic barriers and restriped the street to one lane in each direction. High-speed traffic has already destroyed many of the cones. Tire marks stretch across the newly painted pedestrian crossing. To make matters even worse, all of this is in front of a school.
One neighbor, who claims to have known Melendez from school but didn't want to go on camera, told KPIX 5 that suspect Melendez may be in Los Angeles attempting to return to Guatemala. Oakland Police have posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
A photo of the suspect was released on May 15. Melendez will be extradited back to Oakland to face charges, according to authorities.
