Townsend, Delaware — A New Jersey man is facing serious criminal charges after authorities say he struck and killed two 17-year-old pedestrians in Townsend, Delaware early Saturday morning and then fled the scene, leaving both teens dead on the road.
Delaware State Police report that Nizaiah Ellis, a resident of Newfield, Gloucester County, New Jersey, was driving southbound on Dupont Parkway at approximately 1:10 a.m. when the deadly collision occurred. Two teenagers — a 17-year-old male and a 17-year-old female, both from Townsend — were walking an electric bike in or near the left lane of southbound Dupont Parkway near Denny Lynn Drive when Ellis allegedly struck both of them with his vehicle.
What makes this case particularly troubling is what happened next. According to investigators, Ellis did stop briefly following the collision but then chose to continue driving southbound, abandoning the scene and leaving two young victims behind. Both teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Law enforcement did not let Ellis go far. Troopers located him traveling southbound on Dupont Parkway near Paddock Road in Smyrna and conducted a traffic stop. Upon inspection, officers observed damage to his Nissan Altima that was consistent with the fatal collision. Ellis was immediately taken into custody.
He now faces charges of Leaving the Scene of a Collision Resulting in Death and Failure to Report a Collision Resulting in Death. Ellis was committed to the Delaware Department of Correction on a $12,050 secured bond.
The names of the two victims are being withheld by authorities pending family notification. Their families are now left grieving the sudden and senseless loss of two young lives that ended in the middle of the night on a Delaware highway.
The Delaware State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit is actively continuing its investigation. Anyone who witnessed the crash or has relevant video footage is urged to contact Corporal K. Oakes at (302) 365-8483.
