West Philadelphia man arrested in fatal hit-and-run of 14-year-old girl
Dawn Watson, 14, was walking with her mother when she was hit by a driver who fled the scene, police say.
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The driver who authorities say struck and killed a 14-year-old girl as she walked with her mother in West Philadelphia last month, then fled the scene, was arrested Thursday and charged with vehicular homicide and related crimes.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, U.S. marshals located Marvin Wicker in a rooming house on the first block of Coulter Street in Germantown and took him into custody, said Robert Clark, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal.
Police said Wicker was driving on the 6500 block of Haverford Avenue at a high rate of speed around 9:40 p.m. on Sept. 26 when Dawn Watson and her mother were walking down the block. As they attempted to cross the street, police said, Wicker struck the girl with his Mercedes-Benz, killing her almost instantly. Watson and her mother were just blocks from their home at the time, police said.
Wicker fled the scene, police said.
A few days later, thanks to a tip, police said they located Wicker’s car, a 2011 Mercedes-Benz E 350, on the 5800 block of Girard Avenue, covered by a tarp. Investigators released his name and photo earlier this week and said he was wanted in the girl’s death.
Tips from the community poured in, Clark said. Investigators had searched Wicker’s home in West Philadelphia, and at one point believed he was staying in Upper Darby. Ultimately, Clark said, more tips led them to the house in Germantown, and investigators found Wicker in a back room on the second floor Thursday afternoon.
Clark said it was a joint effort involving the marshals and Philadelphia Police Department’s homicide unit and crash investigation unit.
“We wanted to get closure for the Watson family,” Clark said of the speed with which they worked. “This isn’t our typical shooting, murder, stabbing, but the nature of the crime was so bad.”
Wicker, of the 5900 block of Haverford Avenue, has a criminal record dating back to 2006, including convictions for gun violations and aggravated indecent assault. He has a lifetime requirement to register with Pennsylvania’s sex-offender registry.
According to court records, Wicker has two active retail theft cases stemming from arrests that occurred in Montgomery County in July and in Philadelphia in August.