MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) said a 30-year-old suspect is in custody for a fatal hit and run that took place on Tuesday.

The hit and run happened on Tuesday, April 30 at about 11:25 a.m. on the 6900 block of N. Teutonia Avenue in Milwaukee.

Police said two pedestrians — a 27-year-old mother and her 4-year-old daughter — were crossing the street on W. Verna Avenue.

The pedestrians were hit by a northbound vehicle. Police said the vehicle was traveling at “a high rate of speed” and the driver fled the scene of the collision. The posted speed limit in the area was 40 mph. 

The mother was injured and her daughter, Zekani Hymes-Wilson, was killed as a result of the crash. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the 4-year-old died on the scene, despite resuscitative efforts. 

“The thing that pisses me off about this is that when the vehicle struck that mother, who now has broken bones, when the vehicle struck that mother and struck that child, who is now dead, they just kept on going,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at a Tuesday press conference. “They just kept on going as if they hit a pothole. Like they ran over a box. Like it was nothing…”

Police did not release the names of the two who were hit.

“This was a choice, a decision, to hit them and then leave,” Johnson added.

At 6:26 p.m. Tuesday, MPD said it recovered the vehicle involved in the incident. Police said the car had been abandoned on railroad tracks near the 7500 block of N. 81st Street. 

Police later observed another vehicle with two occupants on the 5800 block of N. 83rd Street that they believed to be connected to the people involved in the incident. Officers said they attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the vehicle fled. While in pursuit, the vehicle crashed in a parking lot near the 7200 block of W. North Avenue.

After the crash, police said the 21-year-old driver in the vehicle complied with officers and was arrested. However, the 30-year-old passenger and suspect fled on foot, but was still arrested by officers. MPD said both were taken to local hospitals for medical clearance. Police said one of those in the car is believed to be connected to the hit and run, but police still are continuing to seek other known suspects.

Officials on Tuesday called for the person driving the vehicle involved to turn themself in.

“Turn yourself in. It’s the right thing to do. If this had happened to somebody that you care about, that’s what you would expect. Turn yourself in,” Johnson said. “And if not, I’m asking folks in this community to step up, to do your part. All of us have a role to play in public safety, right? I’m asking everybody to step up when we have more information to help bring this person to justice, for that mom, for that child, for that family, for our community.”

Johnson said children should be able to cross the street with their parent safely without fear of being hit, injured or killed.

“Let me make this very, very clear,” MPD police chief Jeffrey Norman said. “Milwaukee Police Department will not stop at anything to bring this particular situation to justice… It’s not a matter of if, but of when.”

The Wisconsin Policy Forum said from 2002 to 2022, traffic deaths have increased by 113.5% in Milwaukee County. Traffic fatalities in the rest of the state during the same period have decreased by 36.1%. 

Wisconsin Policy Forum cited speeding as one of the major factors in traffic fatalities in Milwaukee, and noted that pedestrian-involved crash fatalities hit a two-decade high in 2022 when 32 people were killed.

Police said the investigation is ongoing. Charges for the individuals arrested Tuesday evening will be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.

Anyone with information is asked to call MPD at (414) 935-7360 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or via P3 Tips.