Young woman killed in crash on Detroit's northwest side

DETROIT (WJBK) - Detroit police are investigating after a young woman was killed early Tuesday morning in a car crash on the city's northwest side.

The crash happened around 1:00 a.m. on Evergreen Road near Pickford Street, which is just south of Seven Mile Road. Traffic was closed down on Evergreen for the next several hours as police investigated, and the lanes reopened after 7:30 a.m.

The victim has been identified as 20-year-old Cierra Bean. We're told she was riding in a car that was going down Evergreen when the driver lost control and crashed into a pole.

The SUV flipped and also damaged a nearby house. We're told Bean was ejected from the car. Three others were taken to the hospital. Their conditions aren't known at this time.

Neighbors heard the commotion and came outside to help. A Good Samaritan found her cell phone on the ground and called her family.

"I walked down there with my cousin and my sister and we saw that the car was flipped over and everything. I happened to look down; I saw a phone. I picked it up and I texted the first number I saw. They didn't respond; it was about to go dead so I went and charged the phone and then I went through her contacts and called her mother," says Katon Early. "I had to explain to her mother what happened. It was sad."

Cierra's family was on scene within minutes so they could see it all for themselves. We're told Bean has five older siblings, and 14 nieces and nephews.

"I'm going through the most traumatic experience of my life, having my mom call me at one in the morning screaming and crying, telling me my sister is dead," says LaRonte Bean. "I was told they were drag racing down Evergreen and one of them ended up losing control and swerving out and chopping that pole in half right over there. Now they got this little sardine for an SUV, you know, that ejected my little sister from the car.

Detroit Police are still investigating the exact cause of the crash.

The impact of the crash snapped this pole in half, damaged a house and forced crews to close down Evergreen Road between Pickford and Clarita for hours.

But there are no words, now, for its lasting effect.

"Now I've got to tell my kids about their auntie being gone that they love so much. Just, God be with her and take her to his heavenly gates because she was definitely an angel sent," LaRonte says.

Cierra's family says they are so thankful to the Good Samaritans who charged her phone and called her mother to let her know what happened. They say those neighbors are a "blessing" and that one day they'd like to give them a reward.