DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit police are investigating a fatal crash that left two people dead. Police sources told 7 News Detroit that investigators are looking into the possibility that the at-fault was drunk. That driver survived.
The crash happened around 3:15 a.m. at the intersection of Forest Avenue and Mount Elliot Street on the city's east side.
Police said a man driving a Chrysler 300 ran into a Ford Fusion.
Family identified the victims as 27-year-old Airiana Lightfoot and her friend Airon Pace.
They were in Lightfoot's Fusion. Police said Lightfoot was ejected and Pace was trapped inside the burning vehicle.
"I couldn't help her. The car was too hot. Ya know, if I could've, I would've," Frank Crosson said.
Crosson, who lives near the intersection, recalled hearing a loud boom. He sprang into action and attempted to get Lightfoot to a safe distance.
"By the time we pulled her away from the car, that's when it blew up," he explained.
Crosson said he and another man ran to help the man driving the Chrysler.
"We couldn't open the door. The door wouldn't open. So we had to grab him and pull him out the window," Crosson said. "By the time I got him out of the car, his car blew up."
Police sources say the investigation is zeroing in on the possibility that the driver who caused the crash was drunk. Again, he did survive and was taken to the hospital.
"It always happens that way. Seems like the bad guy always gets a chance to walk away," Glenda Robinson, Pace's aunt, told 7 News Detroit.
Robinson recalled the phone call she took as "breathtaking, shocking. It was very hurtful."
"The least thing you least expected," she said.
Now, Robinson is left with the memories of two lives cut short.
"She was very, very sweet. Very kind. She had a little son. Ya know, she worked for the post office and very dedicated. She had just texted me the other day. When I come over here I would talk to her. Very pleasant young lady," Robinson described.
