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Woman who rushed to help family in deadly 8 Mile crash made shocking discovery

Posted at 4:37 PM, Sep 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-05 16:56:02-04

DETROIT (WXYZ) — One woman who rushed to help the family involved in the deadly crash on 8 Mile Friday tells 7 Action News she made a shocking discovery.

Residents can still see piles of debris from the red Challenger that crashed into a brick building, and skid marks from the white SUV that landed right in front of Salon Bayco.

The surveillance time stamp says 2:01 p.m.

A woman in her 60's driving a white Ford Escape approaches the Cherrylawn turnaround on 8 Mile. At the same time, a red Dodge Challenger approaches – at a high rate of speed according to police – with a silver vehicle at its heels, according to witnesses.

"The guy in the red car ran through the light," said Ladonna Dupree, a hairdresser at Salon Bayco. "We just heard a screech, a boom and I looked up."

Dupree saw it all from the Salon Bayco window.

"I see the car spinning and smoke coming from the wheels," she said.

The white Ford Escape comes to a stop in front of Salon Bayco, and Dupree runs out to help. The driver's side door was damaged, the air bags were deployed. She couldn’t see who was inside – at first.

"And I kept saying 'I’m here, I’m here, I’m here, God is with you. We’re here for you,' and I said 'we gotta cut this seatbelt off of her' because there was something leaking from her car, and we didn’t know if it was gas," Dupree recalled.

Dupree then ran around to the passenger side to try and help the woman from there.

"She was kind of out of it, and when she raised her head a little bit I realized – that was my friend," Dupree said.

The woman stuck inside the damaged vehicle was one of Dupree's best friends, who was coming to the salon for a hair appointment.

"She’s a good person, and she would give you the shirt off her back, and she is so well loved," said Dupree. "She is so well loved."

The woman remains in critical condition.

"She definitely needs our prayers. The worst was also seeing that little boy, and they were working on him."

The hairdresser later found out, the red Dodge Challenger, which crashed into a blue brick building had three children inside, according to police. A 29-year-old man driving.

Police are still investigating who had the right of way and reviewing surveillance video.

If you have any information about what happened at the scene of the crash on 8 Mile and Cherrylawn, contact Detroit police.