2 pedestrians, the fifth and sixth in July, killed hours apart in Charlotte hit-and-runs
Bianca Denise Broom, 30, was crossing West Boulevard on foot at about 12:45 a.m. Saturday when a speeding Chevrolet Silverado smashed into her — and then kept going, police said in a press release Monday.
Hours later, around 3 a.m., 35-year-old Barry Cunningham was crossing the street in the 4000 block of Brookshire Boulevard when a Dodge Charger struck him, hurling him across three lanes of traffic to land beside the median strip. That driver didn’t stop, either, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in another release.
Both Broom and Cunningham were pronounced dead at the scene.
They became the fifth and sixth pedestrians killed in Charlotte hit-and-run accidents in July. Before then, CMPD had reported only three such incidents this year, on June 27, April 4 and Jan. 27.
Some parts of Charlotte have been particularly deadly. Broom died on the 1600 block of West Boulevard, while another pedestrian — 32-year-old Rinnell Curry — was struck on July 4 just a mile-and-a-half down the road on the 2600 block, according to police.
Cunningham was likewise the second pedestrian killed this year in a Brookshire Boulevard hit-and-run. He was also the third to die within a 1.5-mile radius in northwest Charlotte.
Despite the recent rash of pedestrian deaths, hit-and-run numbers overall sank in Mecklenburg County in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, which ran from July 1 to June 30. The total number of cases resulting in injuries or death — including motorists and bicyclists, as well as pedestrians — dropped 27% to 69 cases from 95 the previous year, according to state court records.
The drop put 2020-2021 back to pre-pandemic numbers. The 2018-2019 fiscal year saw 67 hit-and-run cases.
The Silverado that killed Broom was found disabled several blocks down the street, CMPD said. The driver, Michael Zeb Green Jr., was charged with felony death by vehicle, felony hit-and-run, driving while impaired and driving with an open container.
Police have yet to find Cunningham’s killer. The vehicle that struck him is described as a 2015 to 2021 gray/silver or red Dodge Charger with damage to its front bumper, headlights and windshield. It is missing its hood ornament.
Another Charlotte hit-and-run, this one non-fatal and involving a bicyclist, was reported Monday evening in the 1100 block of West Tyvola Road.
Anyone with information on these cases is urged to contact CMPD at 704-432-2169 or Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600.
