Story Archive

If You Don’t like the Way I Drive, Stay off the Sidewalk

Sharonda Cheeves, 24, and Jesslyn Williams, 23, were denied entry to Club Motivation in North Philadelphia, Pa. But instead of going home, they kept coming back. “Over 2-1/2 hours, I asked them five times to go home,” said Kadella Davis, who hosted parties at the club. Instead, Cheeves and Williams got in their car and drove around the club, plowing into people on the sidewalk — including Davis, who suffered multiple facial fractures, four broken vertebrae, a fractured pelvis, and a broken arm. Williams made three laps, then got out of the car and Cheeves took one more lap, killing Alisha Moore, 27, in the process. At their sentencing, Judge Benjamin Lerner sentenced Williams to 2–4 years in prison, three years of probation, and a $2,000 fine. Cheeves received 4–8 years in prison followed by two years probation and a $1,000 fine. Lerner said he could have given a lighter sentence, but cited “the number of times that [Williams] had the opportunity to desist what she was doing and simply drive away.” (MS/Philadelphia Inquirer) ...If you’re going to be stupid, you might as well go all the way.