Murder Charges Filed In Deadly Crash

PHILADELPHIA - Police say the District Attorney's Office has approved charging two robbery suspects with four counts of murder for a crash that killed three children and a mother Wednesday night.

Authorities say the two men have lenghty rap sheets with 13 arrests between them.

Slideshow: Annsbury Street Crash Victims

The children killed in the crash at Annsbury and Third streets in the city's Feltonville section were 7-year-old Gina Marie Rosario, 11-month-old Remedy Smith, and her 6-year-old cousin, Alliyah Griffen.

Latoya Smith, 22, died of her injuries Thursday morning. She is the mother of Remedy, who would have turned 1 on Friday, and Alliyah's aunt.

Police identified the suspects as Donta Cradock, 18, and Ivan Rodriguez, 20. The two are also charged with robbery, conspiracy and other related offenses. They are being held without bail.

"Those are the individuals that are responsible for what took place [Wednesday] night," said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey at a noon press conference Thursday.

"A young lady, 22-years-old, lost her life and three young children. They were doing nothing more than sitting outside of their residence. It's just, it's very very sad," said Captain James Clark of the Homicide Unit.

Cradock has eight prior arrests on charges including assault, burglary and weapon possession; Rodriguez has five prior arrests on charges including car theft and criminal mischief, police said. And both had outstanding warrants for their arrests at the time of Wednesday's alleged robbery and crash.

"They committed an armed robbery. They have a long history of violent offenses. They have guns. They're out harming people," said Commissioner Ramsey. "They have no regard for life whatsoever."

Sources say Cradock's criminal career started six years ago at the age of 12. He was allegedly involved in a stolen car incident at Broad Street and Girard Avenue that ended with a crash. That was followed by several more stolen car episodes at ages 14 and 16. Sources confirm Cradock was in a juvenile facility until April 15 when he was granted a pass to go home for a few days. He never returned. There was a bench warrant for his arrest, reported Fox 29's Dave Schratwieser.

Police said it was about 7:30 p.m. when a 29-year-old man reported on the 5400 block of Rising Sun Avenue that two men exited a silver Pontiac and robbed him of his motorcycle at gunpoint.

Police allege that Cradock got back in the car while Rodiguez took off on the motorcycle.

At 7:40 p.m., someone alerted a nearby traffic officer to the robbery, and that officer followed the car northbound on the Roosevelt Boulevard. The officer attempted -- using lights, a siren and his loudspeaker -- to stop the Pontiac when it reached a traffic light, but the car drove off at a high rate of speed. The traffic officer got back into his cruiser and followed the car until it made a right onto Third Street.

"The traffic officer lost sight of that vehicle. He asked around, he surveyed the area, and he came upon a horrific accident at Third and Annsbury, where he observed the gray vehicle had lost control, gone up on the sidewalk … hitting four individuals," Clark said.

Asked about how close the officer was, Clark said, "This was not a pursuit. … (The officer) wasn't even in a close proximity. He could see him, but it wasn't close enough for it to be considered a pursuit."

As family and community members learned Smith had succumbed to her injuries Thursday morning, some questioned the actions of police.

While Commissioner Ramsey said during the news conference, the robbery would have fallen within the department's "restricted pursuit" policy -- which has been revised since he joined the department last year -- he said the officer wasn't close enough to be in pursuit.

Ramsey said the responsibility for the crash falls solely on the suspects.

"The fault belongs to the individuals in the photograph you see there," the commissioner said, pointing to the suspect's mugshots. "They committed an armed robbery. They have a long history of violent offenses. They have guns. They're out harming people. They have no regard for life whatsoever which is apparent by … their histories … and the fact that you would drive in a residential area at that rate of speed."

Ramsey said the car had to be going at well in excess of the speed limit, although no exact speed was given. He said he saw no skid marks at the crash scene.

Cradock, who police said was arrested after the crash in possession of a gun, remains hospitalized due to his injuries.

Family members allege that he pointed a gun at another mother trying to free her daughter from beneath the Pontiac and even tried to reverse to continue his flight from police.

Rodriguez was arrested inside his Eighth Street home, where police said they found two pistols and two shotguns.

The police department's homicide unit is continuing to investigate the crash.

Meanwhile, a memorial to the victims continues to grow at the scene.