MILWAUKEE — A man accused of striking his girlfriend and killing her 4-year-old daughter was charged Friday.
Donald Crayton, 30, is charged with a hit-and-run resulting in death, knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended causing death, hit-and-run resulting in great bodily harm, knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended causing great bodily harm, obstructing an officer, and solicitation of flee or elude an officer, according to a criminal complaint obtained by TMJ4 News Friday evening.
The 4-year-old, Zekani Hymes, and her mother, Gloria Hymes, were crossing Tuetonia Avenue Tuesday morning when a driver hit them.
According to the complaint, Crayton was dating Gloria and lived with her and her daughter, Zekani.
Security footage obtained by TMJ4 News showed a car — which police later determined was driven by Crayton — striking Zekani and Hymes.
In the video, the driver, Crayton, and a passenger, later determined to be his sister, Destiny Crayton, stopped and ran toward the victims.
The complaint said Destiny stayed while Donald ran back to the car and drove away.
That car was found abandoned and Donald Crayton was arrested later that day following a police chase into Wauwatosa, along with the driver, Adriana Merkel, 21.
In the complaint, Merkel stated that Crayton “did not tell her what happened, but asked her to drive him around to get clothes because he needed to “leave.”
According to the complaint, Merkel described Crayton as her boyfriend. Both Merkel and Crayton face charges.
While waiting to be booked, the complaint said Donald Crayton began “crying, and yelling and began to yell 'I’m so sorry Kani.'”
The complaint also said Donald Crayton was never issued a driver’s license.
He was convicted of knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended, causing death, back in Oct. 2018.
Court records show that during the time of that crash, the 30-year-old was driving with a suspended license. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released after only 10 months.
Digging deeper into court records, TMJ4 found that while on probation for that deadly crash, he was cited three more times in municipal court for driving with a suspended license and speeding.
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