Newark police are investigating a navy blue Mercedes they believe could be responsible for the fatal hit-and-run — WATCH VIDEO
Ironically, it turns out his narrow one-way street was on a list of 43 stretches in Newark’s West Ward to get "speed-calming" measures.
"Obviously, a tragedy like this just illuminates how government is too slow at times," said Ron Rice Jr., the West Ward councilman who attributed the oversight, in part, to an administrative delay in replacing a surveyor who went out of business. "It just really hurts my heart. ... Obviously, we didn’t work quick enough."
In a neighborhood populated with children, young Julianne was struck and killed about 8:38 p.m. Thursday while crossing her street just a few yards from her handsome brick two-story in the city’s Vailsburg section. She was pronounced dead at University Hospital at 9:04 p.m.
By 5:10 p.m. Friday, Robert Laurino, the acting Essex County prosecutor, announced the surrender of 24-year-old Saleem Wright of Irvington. At 2:30 p.m. Friday, Wright turned himself in to the Rev. Ron Christian at the Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington in a surrender coordinated by the suspect’s attorney, Gerald Saluti, and the prosecutor’s office, Laurino said.
"Today, we can take solace in the fact we have made an arrest," Laurino said.
He was being held on $150,000 bail at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, facing charges of death by auto, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and endangering an injured victim, crimes that can carry a 10- to 20-year prison term, Laurino said.
One of the first breakthroughs came at 2:54 a.m., when a 2005 blue Mercedes Benz CLK convertible, registered to Wright and fitting the description of the suspect vehicle, was discovered at 7th Avenue and North 11st Street in Newark. It had visible front-end damage, officials said.
The investigation is continuing, Laurino said, but officials would not confirm reports that four people were in the vehicle. "It probably was traveling at a considerable rate of speed," he said.
| Surveillance footage shows Mercedes sought for death of a five-year-old |
That would match descriptions by eyewitnesses.
"The guy was speeding, (he) hit the little girl, and she went flying about 20 feet," said Armando Washington, a 36-year-old neighbor.
"There’s always a history of people speeding up this block," said Adam Puryear, 46, of Columbia Avenue.
By Friday afternoon, neighbors stepped out of their homes, shocked at the tragic death and recalling the "cheerful and kind" girl whose thoughtfulness extended to making a makeshift card with drawings of smiling children for neighbor Bunga Grey, 57. "Because I wasn’t feeling well," Grey said of the gift from Julianne, who had been visiting with his 10-year-old daughter, Heaven, at the time. Yesterday, he carried the get-well card with him.
Before the arrests, neighbors were hoping for a quick resolution of the case.
"It could have been my girls," said Robert Lassiter, sporting a "Dora The Explorer" backpack and walking to his mother’s home with his twin 3-year-old daughters, Janaia and Jordyn. "My heart goes out to the family."
"Never even stopped," he said of the hit-and-run driver. "Some crazy person."
At Julianne’s home Friday, grieving family members occasionally ventured on to the second-floor balcony. At one point, Elizabeth Perez, identified as a cousin, emerged from the house to share a Blackberry video of the kindergarten pupil from the Alexander Annex on Boylan Street.
"I’m a graduate! I’m a graduate!" the smiling Julianne says to the camera. "I’m growing bigger every night."
Just outside the front door was a teddy bear with a "Cuddles University" sweater, a blue poster board filled with pictures of Julianne and such scribbled messages as "You always have a special place in my big heart."
"Today’s a sad day," said Willis, who also manages an apartment house whose surveillance cameras captured images of the fleeing hit-and-run vehicle. "It should not have to be this."
Staff Writer Eric Goodman contributed to this report.
A memorial to a 5-year old girl who died after she was struck by a vehicle in a hit-and-run accident Thursday night is placed on the front steps of a home on Columbia Avenue in Newark. • Essex County Prosecutor identifies girl killed in Newark hit-and-run
• Newark police investigate car for involvement in fatal hit-and-run of 5-year-old
• Five-year old girl dies after hit-and-run accident in Newark's West Ward