MILWAUKEE – A 30-year-old Milwaukee man is charged in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash on the city’s northwest side on Tuesday, April 30. Four-year-old Zekani Hymes-Wilson was killed in the crash. Her mother, 27-year-old Gloria Hymes, suffered serious injuries. 

The accused is Donald Crayton – and he faces the following counts: 

• Hit-and-run resulting in death
• Knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended causing death
• Hit-and-run resulting in great bodily harm
• Knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended causing great bodily harm
• Obstructing an officer
• Solicitation of fleeing/eluding an officer

Adriana Merkel, 21, is also charged in the case with fleeing/eluding police and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. 

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Police say the hit-and-run crash happened around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday on N. Teutonia at Vera — just south of Good Hope. Hymes was crossing the street with her 4-year-old daughter when they were struck by a driver.  

Late Tuesday, police arrested a 30-year-old man and 21-year-old woman in connection to the hit-and-run after they crashed out during a police pursuit in Wauwatosa. 

Before the arrest, a car was found dumped along the railroad tracks at Calumet and 81st — six miles from the crash site. After the crash, cameras caught them running toward the victims before speeding away.

FOX6 News learned Crayton was convicted in 2018, of knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license that caused death.

This is a developing story.
 

MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Vincent King on Wednesday, May 1 to 13 years in prison plus an additional eight years of extended supervision in connection with a fatal crash at Fond du Lac and Congress in August 2022 in which speeds reached 100 miles per hour.

King was originally charged with the following criminal counts: 

• Second-degree reckless homicide
• Second-degree reckless injury
• Possession of a firearm by a felon

But as part of a plea deal revealed on Wednesday, King pleaded guilty to a second-degree reckless homicide charge. The other two charges were dismissed – one by a prosecutor’s motion and the other by the court. 

Case details

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police responded to a fatal crash at Fond du Lac and Congress around 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 12. Police said a 71-year-old Milwaukee man was headed west when he was hit by another vehicle, driven by King. The 71-year-old, later identified as Joseph Papia, was taken to the hospital and died from his injuries.

The complaint indicates King suffered a broken leg and fractured hip in the wreck. His passenger suffered a broken arm.

Police recovered surveillance video from the Taco Bell on W. Fond du Lac Avenue. While it did not capture the actual collision, the complaint against King says it did capture “events before and after the collision.” It was apparent King’s vehicle “had been traveling at a high rate of speed,” the complaint says.

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Police spoke with a firefighter who was on the crash scene. That firefighter “stated that while he was attempting to extract the driver, Vincent King, from the Charger, he located a firearm under the driver’s butt.”

On Aug. 13, the airbag control module was recovered from King’s car. The data recovered from that module indicates King’s “vehicle steadily increases in speed to 100 miles per hour” and “the accelerator remains at or near 100%” immediately before the wreck, the complaint says. The posted speed limits on W. Fond du Lac Avenue where the crash occurred is 35 miles per hour.