A pedestrian was struck by a hit-and-run driver at the intersection of 28th Street and Van Buren Street in Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon and later died at the hospital, prompting police to shut down the intersection while investigators worked the scene.
According to a post from Phoenix Police
, officers responded to a report of a pedestrian hit-and-run collision at the intersection Wednesday afternoon. The woman was transported to a hospital, where she was later pronounced deceased, police said. A public information officer was dispatched to the scene, and the intersection was expected to remain closed as officers investigated.
The driver who struck the woman fled before police arrived, leaving investigators to piece together what happened without the person responsible for the crash present at the scene. Phoenix Police have not released details about the vehicle involved or which direction it was traveling.
What city records show about pedestrian safety
The city materials reviewed for this report do not identify 28th Street and Van Buren Street as a location with a published five-year pedestrian-crash count or specify a planned improvement at that intersection. According to the City of Phoenix, the City Council unanimously approved a comprehensive Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan in September 2022 and allocated $10 million annually for its implementation. A City of Phoenix pedestrian-risk report citing federal FARS data says Phoenix ranked second nationally for the number of pedestrian fatalities in 2023 and third for the pedestrian-fatality rate per 100,000 residents. The city's 2020 pedestrian collision summary analyzed crash trends, types and locations using data from 2016 through 2020, providing broader historical context but not a current count for this intersection.
Earlier crashes in the area
The location has also been the site of another fatal pedestrian collision. On September 13, 2025, 45-year-old James Dillow was struck and killed by a vehicle near the intersection, according to 12News and AZFamily. In that case, the driver who struck Dillow remained at the scene, while a separate driver who drove through the active crash scene was detained and processed for DUI, the station reported.
Wednesday's crash also follows another fatal pedestrian collision along the same corridor just weeks earlier. On August 23, 44-year-old Sharmarke Ismail was struck and killed while crossing mid-block near 48th Street and Van Buren Street, as Hoodline reported in its earlier coverage of that incident. Police noted at the time that Ismail was crossing outside a marked crosswalk and that the driver in that case stayed at the scene.
Safety planning and enforcement context
Impact Legal describes West Van Buren as a high-injury corridor, but the police information released about Wednesday's crash does not identify a specific roadway-design or enforcement change at 28th and Van Buren.
The city also uses automated traffic-camera enforcement at 17 High Injury Network locations, according to Ramos Law. Just days earlier, Hoodline covered a separate fatal crash on West Van Buren Street at 75th Avenue in its story on the sedan wedged under a semi-truck, which also noted the corridor's High Injury Network status.
What is known about the legal issue
Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-661, a driver who flees the scene of a fatal crash faces a Class 2 felony punishable by 3 to 12.5 years in prison if they caused the collision, or a Class 3 felony carrying 2 to 8.75 years if they did not cause the crash but still fled, according to AZ Law Now. Arizona law also mandates that any sentence imposed under that statute must run consecutively to any other criminal charges stemming from the crash, the outlet notes.
Separately, Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-793 requires pedestrians crossing outside a marked crosswalk to yield the right-of-way to vehicles, while § 28-794 obligates drivers to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian on any roadway, per the Arizona State Legislature. Drivers are also required under § 28-794 to sound their horn when necessary and use extra caution when pedestrians or hazards are present.
The wider pedestrian-safety picture
Wednesday's crash comes amid broader concern about pedestrian fatalities in Phoenix, but the information released so far does not establish how many pedestrian-involved crashes have occurred at or near 28th Street and Van Buren during the past five years.
City planning documents provide broader context rather than a crash count for this specific intersection. That context is summarized below.
Anyone with information about the vehicle or driver involved in Wednesday's crash is encouraged to contact Silent Witness, which offers anonymous cash rewards of up to $1,000 for tips leading to an arrest or indictment in felony hit-and-run cases, and up to $2,000 in homicide investigations. Tipsters can call 480-WITNESS, or 480-TESTIGO in Spanish, according to Silent Witness.
