The moment that Kimberly and Michael Ferrell had been waiting for arrived yesterday at the Delaware County Courthouse. The man who had pleaded guilty in the hit-and-run death of their 16-year-old daughter was to be sentenced.
So Kimberly Ferrell did what she had long planned to do in front of a courtroom full of teary-eyed family and friends.
She turned to the man in the blue prisoner's uniform, looked him in the eye, and said, "Mr. Payne, I forgive you."
That came shortly before Judge Frank Hazel sentenced Lemuel Payne, 27, for charges stemming from the hit-and-run death last August of Faith Sinclair, an honor student at Ridley High School.
Payne, of Upper Darby, was sentenced to two to five years in prison and 12 months of probation for leaving the scene of an accident involving death and tampering with physical evidence. The sentence was announced after emotional statements from family members and friends of Sinclair and Payne.
When it was time for Payne to speak, he apologized not only to Faith Sinclair's family, but also to his own.
"That night I just panicked," Payne said. ". . . This is a situation that will be with me for the rest of my life."
Sinclair was hit Aug. 3 when she was walking across Chester Pike at Laurel Road in Sharon Hill. She was in the crosswalk with friends on the way to a sleepover. She was struck about 10 p.m. by a black Mercedes, which did not stop. Sinclair's friends were not injured.
Police discovered the car three days later after a series of tips. The black 2000 Mercedes-Benz S-class car was found under blankets in a garage at Payne's home. Payne was arrested Oct. 23, and released on bail. He was put on house arrest and required to wear an ankle monitoring device.
At a preliminary hearing in November, Payne's then-supervisor at a water company in Pennsauken testified that Payne had told him he had been involved a car accident in which he hit a girl and she died. Payne, then a group sales representative at the firm, called the supervisor the following day to tell him not to tell anyone about their conversation, according to the supervisor's testimony.
Payne's bail was revoked in April after he violated terms of his release, including going out to a Philadelphia nightclub. He pleaded guilty June 22.
Contact staff writer Kristin E. Holmes at 610-313-8211 or kholmes@phillynews.com.
