By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A robbery suspect driving the getaway car that struck and killed a Catholic nun and injured five others in Harlem was charged with second degree murder and robbery Wednesday night.
Police arrested and charged Dyson Williams, 20, who witnesses say was speeding away from police before the deadly crash on Lenox Avenue and West 122nd Street on Tuesday. William Robbins, 18, who is a suspect in the original theft, was also charged with robbery. Both suspects are from Manhattan.
The drama began on Lenox Avenue, between West 122nd and 123rd streets on Tuesday, when a teenager called police to say that he'd been robbed at gunpoint, according to police.
Minutes later, police spotted a car fitting his description on Lenox Avenue, near 142nd Street, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said. They pulled the car over and handcuffed Robbins who had been in the driver's seat.
But before officers had finished detaining Robbins, passenger Williams slid over to the driver's seat and took off, Kelly said.
He took off down Lenox Avenue and ran a red light at 122nd Street and smashed into a Honda Odyssey, which was turning right, Kelly said.
The force of the impact sent the car into a tailspin and over a traffic island, where it plowed into three pedestrians, including sister Mary Celine Graham, 83, and her aide, 58-year-old Patricia Cruz.
Graham was pronounced dead on arrival at Harlem Hospital and Cruz remains in critical condition. The driver and passenger of the van and another pedestrian were also injured in the crash.
Kelly said the gun believed to have been used in the robbery was also recovered in the suspects' van.
Editors note: Police originally reported that there were three suspects involved in the robbery and two suspects involved in the car crash.
