Man arrested in fatal hit-run after his car is found at body shop
The arrest came a day after the announcement of $45,000 in rewards, and a plea by the parents of 8-year-old Jayanna Powell for information about the driver who killed the girl in West Philadelphia more than a week ago.
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This story has been updated:
A 24-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night in the hit-and-run death of 8-year-old Jayanna Powell nearly two weeks ago, police said.
The arrest of Paul J. Woodlyn 3d, of the 1200 block of Marlyn Road in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, followed the discovery of a Nissan with front-end damage at a repair shop in Chester County.
Police said they had received a call Wednesday that the damaged car was at the A&P Auto Body shop in Frazer. Investigators with the Accident Investigation District then went to the shop with fragments of the hit-run vehicle recovered from the crash scene and were able to match the pieces to the car at the shop, police said Thursday.
The car, which was towed by police back to Philadelphia, "appears to be the right vehicle," Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Wednesday night.
Woodlyn was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, vehicular homicide and involuntary manslaughter. Bail was set at $500,000, according to court records.
On Tuesday, before the Nissan was located and before Woodlyn had been identified, Jayanna's parents and police had pleaded for the driver to come forward.
A total of $45,000 in reward money was being offered for information leading to the driver's arrest.
Mayor Kenney's office was offering $10,000 for the arrest and conviction of the driver, Ross said at a Tuesday news conference at Police Headquarters. The local Fraternal Order of Police lodge was offering an additional $15,000 just for the driver's arrest.
"You bring him in today, you get paid today," John McNesby, president of FOP Lodge 5, had said. "It's not for the conviction. You don't have to wait for a long, detailed process."
Separately, the girl's uncle was offering a $20,000 reward for information, Jayanna's parents, Ayeshia Poole and James Powell, said after the news conference.
Jayanna, who was a second grader at Lewis C. Cassidy Elementary School, 6523 Lansdowne Ave., was walking home from school about 3:15 p.m. Nov. 18 with her three siblings, ages 6 to 12, when she was struck by a car at 63rd Street and Lansdowne, at the border with Overbrook.
Her parents said Jayanna was holding her 12-year-old brother's hand when the two of them were struck by a car. Jayanna was rushed by medics to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was pronounced dead. The brother suffered minor injuries.
Jayanna was the 40th pedestrian who died in the city this year after being struck by a vehicle, according to statistics from the city's Medical Examiner's Office.
"I just want to talk to the person who hit my daughter," Poole, 30, said at the news conference. "It may have been an accident. I don't know. I just ask you to turn yourself in."
The family buried Jayanna on Monday. "The hardest thing in my life," Poole said. "I don't get a prom, I don't get a graduation, no marriage, no grandkids. No nothing."
Capt. Patrick Kelly of the Accident Investigation District said the girl and her siblings were walking on the south side of Lansdowne and were crossing 63rd when Jayanna was hit.
He said the car that hit her was a silver 2009 to 2016 Nissan Altima and would have damage to one of its headlights as well as to the grille area.
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