Both were arrested Monday on charges that include suspicion of aggravated vehicular homicide, failure to stop after an accident and tampering with evidence.
The arrests occurred about four hours after 30-year-old Keyana Alexander and her daughter, Ebonie Walker, were struck and killed by a vehicle as they crossed the street in the 1300 block of Danner Avenue.
Alexander was pregnant, but authorities have not said how far along she was in her pregnancy. Furthermore, police have confirmed one of the men jailed is the uncle of the father of the dead child.
Robin Johnson, who lived next door to Alexander on Benning Place in Dayton, called Sunday's events a "horrible tragedy."
Alexander was the mother of four kids, Johnson said, adding the oldest was about 12 years old. Alexander was known in the neighborhood as "Kay Kay," she said.
"She couldn't walk down the street and people not know it's Kay Kay. Our neighborhood's really not going to be the same without her," Johnson said.
The suspects were located in an alley less than a mile from the scene, according to Dayton Sgt. Mark Ponichtera. They were trying to park a 2008 Chevrolet Impala in a vacant garage. When asked if it seemed as though the men were trying to hide the car, Ponichtera said, "That's a fair assessment."
A preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle may have been traveling more than 70 mph, according to Ponichtera. The men, who have retained legal council, were interviewed by police and have confessed to nothing, he said.
They are in the Montgomery County Jail, but may be released soon unless the prosecutor’s office formally files charges today. According to the Ohio Revised Code, once an arrest has been made, that person arrested must be formally charged by the prosecutor’s office within 48 hours. If not, the person arrested must be released.
Walker and Chatman were arrested at about 1 a.m. Monday, meaning that formal charges must be filed by 1 a.m. Wednesday. “It appears we may be forced by constraints to release them, but that’s only because the investigation is very meticulous,” Ponichtera said. Much of the investigation rests on crime lab results stemming from the two men. They were tested for drug and alcohol use, Ponichtera said.
"That's not the kind of information you're going to get back in just two days," he said. "(Although) we had probable cause to arrest them, we just don't have formal enough information gathered and that's simply because it's a very tedious process.
"The prosecutor's office is fully capable of understanding what we have, but it's best we don't jeopardize the case by trying to charge somebody too early," Ponichtera said.
In Dayton, there have been more than 10 fatal accidents involving pedestrian in the last five years. According to records, there were four in 2007, two in 2010 and five in 2011. There were none in 2008 or 2009.
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