Prosecutors: KC woman charged in fatal June hit-and-run was speeding, drunk

A 22-year-old Kansas City woman faces multiple charges following a June hit-and-run that killed a woman.

Shabazz L. Frencher could be charged with driving while intoxicated resulting in death or first degree involuntary manslaughter. She was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.

The June 21 crash near 43rd and Main streets just before 2:30 a.m. killed 23-year-old Zahara Kathawalla as she crossed Main Street.

Frencher turned herself in that evening.

According to court documents, Frencher told police that she drank a bottle of liquor and five shots in Westport. Her cousin’s friend gave her the keys to her car to park and she left the area with another friend.

Frencher was driving when another car, a Dodge Magnum, pulled up beside them. Someone in that car asked if they wanted to race, according to court documents. Frencher told police she didn’t want to because “she was drunk and wanted to go home.”

Someone in the Dodge asked if there was a “wheeler,” or good driver, in the car. Frencher’s friend told them that yes, there was a “wheeler” in the car, but that they wouldn’t race because of traffic. Then, according to court documents, Frencher began to race and said: “I am the wheeler.”

The cars raced through a few traffic lights. Frencher drove 96 mph in a 35 mph zone.

She said, according to court documents, that she was at the stop line by the time she saw Kathawalla and slammed on the breaks. She also swerved lanes. At the time she hit Kathawalla, Frencher was driving 67 mph.

Frencher’s friend in the car told police she yelled “stop,” after seeing Kathawalla in the road. She also said she repeatedly told Frencher to turn around so they could check on the woman.

Frencher kept driving, parked the car in a neighborhood with “the good houses,” and ripped off the temporary tag. She was picked up at a gas station by her cousin and her cousin’s friend.

About an hour after the crash, according to court documents, Frencher called her friend who owned the vehicle and told her about the crash. Frencher said she “was not sure if she hit or ‘tapped’ someone.”

Prosecutors asked for a $50,000 bond.

A bond review hearing was scheduled for Nov. 16.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 10:23 PM.