A 17-year-old who’d gone out for a movie with friends was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Holmesburg
Shibin Sony had been out with friends for the night, his aunt said, but was killed after the car he was in was struck by another car trying to make a turn.
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A 17-year-old Northeast High School student who’d gone out with friends to see a movie Friday night was killed in a hit-and-run car crash in Holmesburg, according to police and a relative of the teen’s. Five other people also were injured in the collision, police said, two of them critically.
The crash happened just after 9 p.m., police said, when someone driving a Nissan SUV on State Road tried to make a left turn onto Ashburner Street, but instead crashed into a Honda being driven the opposite direction on State Road.
The Honda — which police said had been traveling “at a high rate of speed” — then crashed into another car, a Ford Escape, and a utility pole, which became embedded into the Honda.
Three people were inside the Honda, police said, including 17-year-old Shibin Sony, a passenger, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The Honda’s driver and another passenger were taken by medics to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in “extremely critical condition,” police said. Authorities did not provide their ages or genders.
Three people in the Ford Escape were also taken to the hospital in stable condition, police said. Police also did not provide ages or genders of the people in that vehicle.
The Nissan SUV, meanwhile, was driven away from the scene before authorities arrived, police said. It was not clear how many people were in the car or where it went.
Sony’s aunt, Sheena Jose, said Sony was a Northeast High School student who had emigrated from India with his family in 2015. The youngest of three brothers, Sony was “such a kind and nice kid,” Jose said.
Jose said that Sony had told his father Friday night that he was going to see a movie with friends, but that his brothers became worried when he didn’t come home later that night. They reached out to police Saturday morning and learned that Sony had been a victim in the car crash, Jose said.
“Our community is in shock,” Jose said.
Police said an investigation into the crash was continuing.