NORRISTOWN — As relatives of a woman who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while she crossed City Avenue in Lower Merion Township in her wheelchair expressed their grief, the driver apologized for his conduct and was sent to prison.
“I want to apologize for my ignorance. I deeply apologize to the family. If I could take it back I would,” Jamal William McCullough, 38, addressed the relatives of Tracey Cary in a Montgomery County courtroom. “I made a terrible accident and I am paying for it.”
McCullough, of the 800 block of East Stafford Street, Philadelphia, was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in a state prison facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of accidents involving death in connection with the 2:07 a.m. Nov. 11, 2024, pedestrian crash that killed Cary, 61, in front of the Taco Bell in the unit block of West City Avenue, near Conshohocken State Road, in the Bala Cynwyd section of Lower Merion.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein imposed the sentence which was the mandatory term allowable under state law for the hit-and-run charge and which was sought by prosecutors.
Before the sentence was formally imposed, Cary’s sister addressed the judge on behalf of Cary’s anguished family.
“Nothing can bring my sister back. Tracey Cary was unhoused, but she was never unloved,” Sharon Cary-Irvine said as she remembered her sister. “My sister’s life mattered.”
At one point, Cary-Irvine addressed McCullough directly.
“I understand that accidents happen. What has been most difficult for me is not only the loss itself, but the actions and demeanor that followed. After the incident you returned to your vehicle, checked on your car and left,” Cary-Irvine said as she looked at McCullough seated at the defense table.
“I believe this incident was an accident but your reaction afterward reflected a belief that consequences should not apply to you, as though someone would always step in to protect you from accountability. That belief is dangerous,” Cary-Irvine added.
Jamal McCullough (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
Cary-Irvine urged McCullough to use his time in prison to reflect on the decisions he makes and how they affect others.
“Read. Work. Take responsibility. Do the hard internal work required to return to society as a better version of yourself — not a worse one,” Cary-Irvine said to McCullough. “If you do not learn from your mistakes, you will repeat them.”
Assistant District Attorney Libby Ann Hemler sought the mandatory prison term for McCullough, explaining that instead of staying at the scene, and what is required by the state’s Vehicle Code, he left the scene without calling 911 or rendering aid to Cary. Hemler said the mandatory three-year prison term is appropriate and should send a message to other drivers about their responsibilities during crashes.
“If you’re involved in an accident, pull over, call the police, do the right thing and make sure you get help for anyone who is involved in that accident,” said Hemler, adding the victim’s relatives “lost a very beloved member of their family.”
Defense lawyer Michael Patrick Parkinson pointed out that McCullough was supported in court by about a dozen relatives and friends, who described him as a hardworking father of two who is remorseful for his conduct. McCullough’s mother offered an apology on behalf of her family to the victim’s family and added she loves her son.
The investigation determined McCullough was not at fault in the crash and that Cary was operating her wheelchair in the roadway and not in a crosswalk when she was struck. But McCullough initially stopped his vehicle and walked back to the crash site, observed Cary in the roadway and then left the scene without calling 911 or rendering aid to Cary.
Had McCullough not left the scene he might not have faced any charges, according to authorities.
Jamal McCullough is escorted from a Montgomery County courtroom by a deputy sheriff to begin prison term for fatal hit-and-run crash. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
The investigation began about 2:14 a.m. Nov. 11 when Lower Merion police responded to a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle near the Taco Bell. Arriving officers found Cary lying on her stomach unconscious and not breathing.
“Cary’s wheelchair was on scene and was heavily damaged,” Lower Merion Police officers Christopher Sheffer and John S. Iushewitz wrote in the criminal complaint.
Cary was transported to Lankenau Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 2:52 a.m. An autopsy determined Cary suffered blunt impact injuries to her head and torso.
A witness to the crash told police that the striking vehicle was dark in color and was last seen traveling southbound on City Avenue. Vehicle parts and debris left at the scene helped police identify the striking vehicle as a Toyota Camry.
“Relevant video was obtained from several locations, showing the collision as well as the route and actions taken by the fleeing actor following the collision,” Sheffer and Iushewitz alleged.
Video evidence depicted Cary’s wheelchair traveling southbound in the southbound curb lane of City Avenue about 2:06 a.m. when a dark sedan traveling southbound struck her and launched her into the air. The black 2019 Toyota Camry continued southbound on City Avenue without stopping, police alleged.
Authorities alleged McCullough, according to video surveillance, later pulled into a parking lot, got out of his vehicle and walked around to the front passenger’s bumper area and observed the damage to his vehicle.
Video surveillance depicted McCullough walking north on the sidewalk of City Avenue toward the collision scene.
“He then mills about walking back and forth, passing by Cary laying in the roadway multiple times, at times within feet of her body,” Sheffer and Iushewitz alleged, adding McCullough then walked away from the scene south on City Avenue.
McCullough returned to his vehicle and drove away. The investigation determined that after the crash McCullough drove to work at a Waste Management of Delaware Valley facility in Primos.
After the crash was reported by news outlets, McCullough allegedly told co-workers on Nov. 12 that he thought he hit a wheelchair in the road on his way to work on Nov. 11. McCullough allegedly claimed that he saw the news story about Cary’s death but that he was unaware a person was in the wheelchair when he struck it, according to court papers.
McCullough allegedly told coworkers he was going to contact a lawyer and turn himself in.
McCullough subsequently was arrested and charged. When authorities inspected the Toyota Camry they found damage on the passenger side front bumper consistent with evidence located at the scene of the fatal collision.
Other charges of tampering with physical evidence, duty to give information and render aid and failing to notify police of an accident with injury or death were dismissed against McCullough as part of the plea agreement.