Hartford police have arrested a local man accused in a deadly hit-and-run crash in the North End of the city earlier this month.
Police say 24-year-old Kayvon Cook was the driver of a white sedan that struck 47-year-old Chante Tucker, of Hartford, at the intersection of Albany Avenue and Garden Street around 10:47 p.m. on Sept. 5. The sedan fled the scene before police arrived.
Tucker was taken to Saint Francis Hospital and died the next morning.
Investigators seized the vehicle involved in the crash, a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu, on Sept. 6 and worked to identify the driver. On Thursday, police obtained an arrest warrant for Cook and arrested him.
Tucker's daughter Terressa Belle Tate-Dawkins said she's glad he's behind bars.
"That was a cruel act for him to do what he did, and a coward move at that," Tate-Dawkins said.
The 23-year-old remembers her mother for her beautiful smile and says she was a fabulous cook and a sharp cards player.
"Every other weekend she'll set up a spades game, everyone come over and play spades," Tate-Dawkins recalled.
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"She was always the life of the party, she was just one of a kind," she added.
Tucker grew up in Bridgeport with a large family. Her daughter is now taking solace in the hope she's found peace amongst them again.
"My mother, she's with her mother and grandmother and her sister."
Tucker will be laid to rest Sunday.
Cook is charged with evading responsibility with serious physical injury, reckless driving, operating with a suspended license and false statement. Additional charges are pending the results of an autopsy, and the case remains under investigation, police said.
Cook was held on a $100,000 bond.
