Cleveland, OH : Man who struck, killed woman after high school reunion was driving stolen car, Cleveland police say on September 2 2016

A man in a stolen car sped through a red light and crashed into the car of a 49-year-old Maple Heights mother who had just left her high school reunion, police said.

The crash came just after midnight on Lee Road near Cloverside Drive, south of Harvard Avenue. Shirley Duncan-Burnes was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man, who was injured, fled the scene and has not been arrested, police said Sunday.

Duncan-Barnes went to a 30-year reunion for the 1986 graduating class of Jane Addams Business Career Center at H20 Lounge, her classmates said.

"We were all in good spirits, catching up and reminiscing about everything," Kevin Eardes said in a phone interview Sunday.

Duncan-Barnes left the lounge early with her longtime friend Cassandra Ward, and the two were going to meet more friends at the Cabaret on Lee Road, Ward told cleveland.com Sunday.

Neither woman had been drinking, Ward said.

Ward and Duncan-Barnes drove separately. They missed the turn for the Cabare, and pulled into the Lee-Harvard Plaza parking lot to turn around, Ward said.

When the light turned green, Ward turned left onto Lee Road. Duncan-Barnes was behind her.

When Ward came through the intersection, she saw the Chrysler 300 speeding toward her, heading north on Lee Road.

"I looked back just as she was throwing her hands up in the air to brace herself," Ward said.

Then she heard the crunch of metal as the Chrysler struck Duncan-Barnes' car behind her.

The force of the crash spun Duncan-Barnes' car completely around, and propelled her through the brick wall of a music store.

Ward pulled over to the side of the road. She and other people rushed over to the car. A man kicked in one of her windows, but they could not get her out of the car, Ward said.

Cleveland firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene. Duncan-Barnes was later pronounced dead.

Witnesses told celveland.com at the scene and again Sunday morning that the man had been taken to the hospital. But police on Sunday said the driver fled the scene and has not been arrested.

Ward said she and Duncan-Barnes remained close after high school. The two worked several jobs together, including cleaning offices downtown and rode the RTA to work together, Ward said.


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Man who struck, killed woman after high school reunion was driving stolen car, Cleveland police say