Woman faces charges after man struck, killed in hit-and-run during Telegraph Cruise

Suspect was doing burnout, lost control of vehicle

TAYLOR, Mich. – A woman is facing several charges after a Downriver man was killed during the Telegraph Cruise last month.

Alan Kennedy, 49, was hospitalized after a car lost control doing a “burnout” and hit him. She fled the scene. He later died from his injuries.

The woman is behind bars at the Wayne County Jail.

Taylor City Councilman Tim Wooley said Kennedy was his longtime friend and high school classmate.

“I grew up playing. Little League football with him first met him,” Kennedy said. “Then when we got into high school we became pretty close friends.”

Police said Kourtney Nichole Scherlitz, 23, was doing a burnout when she lost control of her car and struck Kennedy.

“The father in me. You know I feel somewhat sorry for, you know, position she put herself through friends and family and because it’s clearly going to alter her life but it’s it’s also a shame that she chose to drive that day without a license,” Wooley said.

Scherlitz is being charged with reckless driving, operating with no license and failure to stop during an accident resulting in death. She’s being held on a $75,000 bond.

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Victor Williams joined Local 4 News in October of 2019 after working for WOIO in Cleveland, OH, WLOX News in Biloxi, MS, and WBBJ in Jackson, TN. Victor developed a love for journalism after realizing he was a great speaker and writer at an early age.

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