Schuylkill Expressway crash quick and deadly, say police

It would have taken just seconds for Lateisha Johnson's car to vanish from the highway late Wednesday, police said.

When Johnson turned her black Infiniti off the Schuylkill Expressway toward the northbound ramp to Roosevelt Boulevard shortly before midnight, with her 15-year-old daughter in the seat beside her, there was likely no traffic nearby. No one was there to call for help when Johnson, a mother of three, lost control of her car and it crashed through the guardrail, hit an embankment, and wound up in the branches of a tree, 40 feet above the ground.

Johnson, 34, was likely killed on impact, police believe. Her daughter was thrown from the car through an open window, and was able to climb up the embankment to the highway.

Police found her wandering on the road soon after the crash, injured and disoriented, unable to explain what she was doing there.

"She was almost in a catatonic state," said Philadelphia Police Capt. Michael Murphy on Friday. "She was just not lucid."

Neighbors in Johnson's Logan neighborhood were shocked by the news Friday. Johnson grew up in the neighborhood. Her grandmother lives down the street. Residents remembered seeing Johnson with her daughter as well as her two sons, 9 and 13.

"I was pretty sad when I heard about her passing," said Alfreida Still, 27. "They were a nice family."

Johnson was released from prison this year, records show, after serving almost five years for her role in a 2004 accident that killed another person.

Police are still investigating the cause of this week's accident, but Murphy said it was likely Johnson made the turn too sharply and at too high a speed.

The girl, whose name has not been released, was taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She remained hospitalized Friday, but is expected to recover from her physical injuries, police said.

About 12 hours passed before the girl was able to tell police her horrific tale. Around 1 p.m. Thursday, she started to remember what had happened, and police went to the crash site.

There they found Johnson's car, still in the branches. Using tow trucks on the roadway above and from below, police carefully brought it down to the ground.