Police identify Schuylkill River car-crash victim

Philadelphia Police have identified the person who died after driving into the Schuylkill River at Kelly Drive and Hunting Park Ave. on Tuesday as a 42-year-old woman from North Philadelphia.

According to police, Shanita Jackson of the 2100 block of N. Carlisle St. was driving westbound on Hunting Park Ave. toward Kelly “at a high rate of speed” just before 12 p.m.

There, her silver 2005 Volvo struck a stone retaining wall and flew into the river. Police, medics and firefighters at the scene extracted her from the vehicle, but Jackson was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:36 p.m.

As a helicopter from NewsWorks content partner NBC10 hovered overhead Tuesday, firefighters and police divers in cold-weather suits were seen climbing down a ladder to water’s edge where they got into a boat.

The victim was unconscious by the time divers reached the vehicle, which was pulled out of the chilly water about 90 minutes later. Jackson was alone in the vehicle, said police, who closed Kelly Drive for an estimated two hours.