Woman in speeding car killed in early morning accident

ECORSE, Mich. (WJBK) - Ecorse police are investigating after a car speeding down a residential street crashed into multiple vehicles, killing one person and injuring two others. Police say the car was going at least 70 mph around midnight down 17th Street, which is near Outer Drive.

According to police, Donita Alford and a friend were in the car speeding down 17th street when it rear-ended a vehicle. Two men were in that car which then began sliding.

Alford was thrown from the vehicle and the sliding car hit her. Alford died from her injuries. Her friend was rushed to the hospital and is being treated for non life threatening injuries.

"Have you ever heard a particular gun, like a 40 cal, shot go off? That's what it sounded like, like somebody just had a gun next to your hear and shot it. It was so loud. It literally woke up half the neighborhood," says Savontay Hampton.

Police say five cars were somehow involved in the deadly collision. The impact sent several cars flying and scattered debris everywhere on the block.

"It looked like a war zone over here. Speed was definitely a factor. One vehicle was legally parked in the street and ended up in a yard of a home. A second vehicle also wound up in the yard of a home. So you had two vehicles legally parked that wound up in someone's yard," says Mike Moore from the Ecorse Police Department.

One of the men in the car was also injured and taken to the hospital. The other, we're told, tried to make a run from police but was arrested after a short chase. 

It is a series of events that, hours later, just still don't make sense and has left so many people numb.

"I'm just calling her phone; I know she's going to come home from work soon because it's not real. It don't feel real at all," says Donita's sister, Davena Hogan.

Police say they are confident speed played a role, and are working to determine if drugs or alcohol were also a factor. 

Editor's note: An earlier version of the story indicated that Alford had been in the parked vehicle. That information was incorrect and has been changed.