Cleveland police said they arrested a 19-year-old Cleveland resident Monday and charged him with killing a Maple Heights woman in a car crash Saturday night on Lee Road at Cloverside Avenue.
The suspect has been identified as Brian Burns, Jr. He is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated robbery and receiving stolen property. He is expected to appear in court Tuesday.
The Cuyahoga County medical examiner identified the victim as 49-year-old Shirley Duncan-Barnes.
“I just hate that my sister had to leave this way," said Janice Carter, Duncan-Barnes' sister.
Carter said Duncan-Barnes was heading home from a high school reunion Saturday night when the incident happened. Police said Burns ran the red light at Cloverside Avenue, in a stolen car, and struck Duncan-Barnes' car.
"The driver was going at least 95 miles per hour," said Heather Workman-Stewart, a witness to the crash. “It sounded like a nuclear bomb had gone off."
Workman-Stewart and Carter, who was also at the scene, said the suspect was badly injured and transported by ambulance.
But Cleveland police said he had been on the run until he was arrested Monday. What happened in between the time remains unclear.
Burns is in the hospital being treated for injuries and is expected to be in court Tuesday.
“That person took something really special from us, and I just don’t understand how people can do the things they do in life and not think about people they hurt," added Carter.
Carter said Duncan-Barnes' husband died in July. She is a mother of two and worked for Cleveland Metropolitan School District, helping to provide nutritional meals for children.
