Mom of sisters killed in DUI crash: My family is torn

PHILADELPHIA -- Loretta Phillips-Boykin is looking to her family now to help her get through this time of unimaginable pain after the deaths of her two daughters.

"My family is torn. My family is facing pain," Phillips-Boykin told Action News Monday.

Kimberly Phillips, 19, was the mother of two boys ages 3 and 4. Her little sister, 10-year-old Loraya Braxton, was also killed.

"We're not just burying one child, we're burying two," Phillips-Boykin said.

The sisters were making a trip to the corner store to buy snacks late Saturday night.

They were in the crosswalk at Large and the Roosevelt Boulevard around 11:45 p.m. when, police say, a Jeep Wrangler driven by 48-year-old Kenneth Ruch ran right into them as he tried to make the light when it turned from green to yellow.

"Speeded across the street and my oldest daughter protected her little sister," Phillips-Boykin said.

Ruch kept going and was stopped by police and arrested around the corner.

He's now charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and related offenses.

Phillips-Boykin said she moved to a house just off the Boulevard one week ago.

Concerned about gun violence, she thought it would be safer than West Philadelphia to raise her children.

"So many kids keep dying right there on the Boulevard and we need something done," Phillips-Boykin said.

She says she holds no hatred for the man now charged with her daughters' deaths.

"God has to judge him and he will get his judgement," Phillips-Boykin said.

At a vigil Monday night, held at the accident scene, family members wore the victims' favorite color purple.

A vigil was held for two sisters killed on Roosevelt Boulevard.

Family members say the tragedy only highlights the constant pedestrian dangers along the busy road.

"They need to change the speed limit and they need to get someone out there," family member Sabrina Walker said.

But they say it was one man's bad choices that robbed them of Kimberly and Loraya.

"He hurt us. He didn't just kill two innocent children, he killed the whole family," Corbi said.

A funeral for both victims is set for this Saturday.