A man was charged Tuesday with five felony counts stemming from an alleged DUI hit-and-run crash that killed a woman crossing the street in Hawthorne.
Richard Marlin Merritt, 42, of Hawthorne is charged with one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury to another person, hit-and-run driving resulting in injury to another person, driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury and driving with a 0.08 blood-alcohol content causing injury.
The charges stem from a crash just before 1:45 a.m. Sunday in the 12900 block of Prairie Avenue, according to Hawthorne Police Lt. Joel Romero.
Roxanne Stempien of Hawthorne, 40, was killed while crossing the street inside a crosswalk, and a male pedestrian was injured, authorities said.
“Evidence at the scene led us to a potential suspect,” the police lieutenant said.
Police went to the man’s Hawthorne residence, saw him walking into the building and detained him, Romero said.
“He was the vehicle’s registered owner and the vehicle was parked around the corner with significant front-end damage,” the lieutenant said.
Officers determined the man had been driving under the influence and arrested him, Romero said.
Merritt has remained behind bars since then, according to jail records.