The Point Breeze man whose joyride left one person dead and another critically wounded pleads guilty to murder
Kareem Welton intentionally hit a chef leaving a Center City steakhouse in July 2021, and then, hours later, swerved into a jogger in Collegeville, leaving him with severe injuries.
A Point Breeze man who went on a drug-fueled crime spree in Philadelphia and Montgomery County in 2021, intentionally running over and killing a chef at a Center City steak house, pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree murder.
Kareem Welton, 43, entered the plea in Norristown before Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter. In admitting his guilt, Welton also pleaded guilty to attempted murder for hitting a runner with one of two cars he stole, as well as aggravated assault and robbery of a vehicle during the violent joyride that spanned 30 miles from Center City to Trappe.
Welton was scheduled to go to trial for first-degree murder in November, but that more serious charge was dropped as a condition of the plea. Carpenter deferred Welton’s sentencing Friday, and it will likely take place in the coming weeks.
However, prosecutors did not agree to negotiate the terms of Welton’s sentence, leaving it up to Carpenter to make that decision.
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Adriana Moreno-Sanchez, 31, was killed by Welton just after 2 a.m. on July 28, 2021. Moreno-Sanchez was walking home from her late-night shift at Steak 48 on 15th Street near South when the car Welton was driving hopped the curb and hit her, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
Welton then made a U-turn in the vehicle, a Chevrolet Malibu he had stolen from one of his neighbors, drove back onto the sidewalk and hit Moreno-Sanchez a second time, the affidavit said. Welton briefly stopped after the second hit to steal Moreno-Sanchez’s jacket as she lay injured.
She was later pronounced dead at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Welton continued to drive, striking additional cars and people. Hours after the fatal hit-and-run, still wearing Moreno-Sanchez’s jacket, Welton carjacked a woman outside of Jefferson Hospital and drove off in her Acura sedan, the affidavit said. Police notified surrounding counties that Welton had driven away from the city, toward Montgomery County, after striking a bicyclist in Manayunk.
Eventually, Welton was spotted in Collegeville, and an officer there attempted to pull him over. A chase followed. As he was being pursued, Welton intentionally swerved into oncoming traffic to strike and critically injure a jogger, the affidavit said. The jogger suffered severe injuries to his spine, ribs, and legs, the affidavit said.
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Police were finally able to take Welton into custody after he parked the stolen Acura at an Exxon station in Trappe and attempted to steal a bicycle from a man standing nearby, according to the affidavit.
A toxicology screen later revealed that Welton had marijuana and PCP, a powerful hallucinogenic, in his system at the time of the assaults.