Sharon Hill girl, 16, killed by hit-and-run Mercedes-Benz

Faith Sinclair didn't make it across Chester Pike in Sharon Hill on her way to a Sunday sleepover with some friends. The 16-year-old Delaware County teen died after she was struck by a car while in a crosswalk and thrown about 50 feet.

The black, Mercedes-Benz S-Class car never stopped, but left behind part of its grill and side mirror.

Police said the car, which was headed east, also might have windshield damage. They do not know if the car was exceeding the 35 m.p.h. speed limit.

As Sinclair lay dying on the black asphalt - her body illuminated by the street lamp above - other cars kept speeding by. Not one stopped.

"The cars were so close," said Travis Bussey, 44, who flagged traffic away from the scene. "She would have gotten run over again."

Kirstie Kehner, 16, of Sharon Hill said she and Sinclair were just hanging out with friends when they decided to walk home around 10 p.m.

"All the boys were walking us home because it was dark," Kehner said. "She was going to sleep over."

The group was attempting to cross over four lanes of traffic on Chester Pike at Laurel Road. One teen made it across. Kehner saw a fast-approaching car and turned back.

Sinclair tried to make it across, too.

"I heard the scream and she was flipping up in the air and then she dropped," said Shannon Bussey, 12, who was playing in front of her home just yards from the accident.

Her father, Travis, went to check on his daughter, saw Sinclair lying on the road, and immediately called 911.

Joe Lombardo, 52, was putting his 9-year-old daughter to sleep when he heard screams and a loud thump.

He went outside and saw a teen holding Sinclair's limp body. Other teens were screaming and crying.

He ran over and felt for her pulse. Lombardo, who said he is a former police officer, couldn't find one.

"There was absolutely nothing you could do," Lombardo said, adding that Sinclair had "severe head trauma."

Within minutes, word of Sinclair's accident - and later her death - was spread by cell phones and instant messages.

"faith, i love you. i'm sorry to hear about everything that's happened. i'll miss you always," Ashley wrote at 12:15 a.m. on Sinclair's MySpace page.

Around 11 a.m. yesterday, a group of Sinclair's friends gathered near a large bloodstain on the pavement, held each other, and cried.

"She loved to dye her hair," said Kass Moors, 31, of Collingdale. She said Sinclair, a "great kid," changed her hair color every few weeks. "Last night, it was purple," Moors added.

Others posted notes and pictures and placed stuffed animals at a nearby lamppost.

"She was, like, the smartest person in the world," said Tonia Rivers, 16. "She helped us all study."

Rivers said Sinclair was a former member of the Sharon Hill Ramblers cheerleading squad, for which Sinclair's mother, Kim Ferrell, had also coached. She said Sinclair worked at a McDonald's near her home.

Sinclair was an honor student at Ridley High School who hoped to become a special education teacher, according to the Delaware County District Attorney's Office. She was headed to Ireland this fall as part of a teen ambassador program.

"I think of myself as somewhat of a dork, but if your cool with that, then so am I," Sinclair posted on her MySpace page. "I am doing marching band for Ridley next year, and might even do softball in the spring."

Anyone with information about the accident is asked to call Sharon Hill police at 610-237-6200.