Mother finds daughter in road after New Castle-area hit-and-run. Police arrest a driver

Anitra Johnson, Delaware News Journal
Updated ·4 min read
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On Sept. 26, 2023, Tamika Brown, a clerk at Christiana Hospital's emergency room, found herself at the ER despite being off duty. In the early morning hours, Brown discovered the body of her 23-year-old daughter on the side of the road in their New Castle County neighborhood.

Jada Symone Brown-Howard was a nursing student who aspired to work in labor and delivery, according to her mother. Brown said her daughter was six points away from completing her nursing program. Describing what happened that night, Brown said Brown-Howard went for a walk around their Wilton neighborhood complex, near New Castle, sometime during the 10 p.m. hour to "decompress." She recalled feeling uneasy about her daughter’s late-night departure. “Although she's an adult, I'm a mother, and I didn't necessarily agree with the time frame in which she was leaving,” Brown said.

Jada Symone Brown-Howard, a 23-year-old nursing student, was killed in a hit-and-run while walking in her Wilton neighborhood, near New Caslte, on Sept. 26, 2023.
Jada Symone Brown-Howard, a 23-year-old nursing student, was killed in a hit-and-run while walking in her Wilton neighborhood, near New Caslte, on Sept. 26, 2023.

When Brown-Howard hadn’t returned home, her mother went searching for her. Brown said she drove around the neighborhood for hours, not realizing she had been passing her daughter’s body. Brown said it wasn’t until around 2 a.m. that she took a closer look at the figure on the ground near Wilton Boulevard and Edinburgh Drive. The mother of four said she picked her daughter up and placed her in her vehicle for the less than 10-minute drive to the hospital.

Believing that her daughter had been attacked, Brown said she rushed her daughter to the emergency department where she worked, desperate to save her. Once there, however, doctors informed Brown that her daughter had already succumbed to injuries she sustained from a vehicle collision.

Law enforcement responded to the incident with an investigation that included a Facebook post appealing to the public for information. The post offered only basic information about what happened and where. It did not mention any names. Brown was anguished by what she read.

Brown said her daughter was loved by her family and her life "had value." She said her daughter's face and name should be known. She said she is seeking justice and wants the person responsible for her daughter's death to be held accountable.

21-year-old woman charged

On Jan. 9, detectives from the New Castle County Division of Police Traffic Services Unit announced that 21-year-old Julisa O. Prak had surrendered in connection to the incident.

Court documents state that while her vehicle is registered to a Philadelphia address, Prak admitted she had been living in the Wilton community with her boyfriend for two years. The report noted that initially, Prak told investigators she was uncertain about what she hit and suggested it may have been a deer. However, after reviewing Prak's cellphone, detectives said they found text messages asking, 'Is the person ok' and 'You ok? The lil girl ok?'

Investigators report that Prak's call log shows Prak made several calls to family and friends and then drove to a gas station. It also states that Prak's boyfriend's mother used the defendant's cellphone to call 911 about 20 minutes after Prak's call to her boyfriend.

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New Castle County Division of Police charged Prak with one felony count of leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She was arraigned in a Justice of the Peace Court and released after posting $5,000 secured bail. The case has since been transferred to Superior Court where Prak is facing charges of leaving the scene of an accident and operation of a vehicle causing death.

In Delaware, causing death while operating a vehicle is a misdemeanor. For a first offense, the penalty includes a fine of up to $1,150 and imprisonment for a maximum of 30 months. A collision resulting in a person's death is a felony. The penalty if convicted includes possible fines and:

  • A minimum incarceration of one year, in which the first 6 months of any sentence cannot be suspended

  • A two-year loss of driver’s license and driving privilege

Twenty-three-year-old Jada Brown-Howard was killed in a hit-and-run crash in the Wilton community, near New Castle, on Sept. 26, 2023.
Twenty-three-year-old Jada Brown-Howard was killed in a hit-and-run crash in the Wilton community, near New Castle, on Sept. 26, 2023.

The law outlines the responsibilities of motorists at the scene of an accident. According to Delaware Code, drivers are required to stop their vehicle at the scene of an accident and provide reasonable assistance to any injured persons, such as taking them to a hospital or contacting first responders and waiting for their arrival.

Brown lamented that Prak did not take any of these actions. Although she acknowledged that emergency room doctors told her otherwise, the victim's mother speculated that had Prak called for paramedics, there might have been a chance for her daughter to survive. Funeral services for Brown-Howard were on Oct. 14.

New Castle County Division of Police Traffic Services Unit continues to investigate this incident. They are asking anyone who may have information to call Detective Maura Schultz at (302) 395-8048 or email Maura.Schultz@NewCastleDe.gov.

Contact reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com. Join her on the Facebook group Delaware Voices Uplifted. Support her work and become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: New Castle County mother seeks justice for daughter in hit-and-run death