Penn Hills man gets state prison for fatal hit-and-run crash

A Penn Hills man who struck a pedestrian with a vehicle, killing him, will serve at least four years in prison.

Surron Burch, 25, was ordered to serve four to eight years in prison followed by three years probation on Monday by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski.

Burch, who pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in March, must also pay $1,200 in fines.

Prosecutors said that Burch was driving his girlfriend’s car the night of April 28, 2019, when he struck Joseph Morris, 51, who was walking home from work on Hershey Avenue in Penn Hills.

Morris was thrown over the car and landed in the opposite lane. Another vehicle then went over him, causing him to be dragged for more than a half-mile to Universal Road.

Related:

• Man pleads guilty to fatal hit-and-run crash
• Suspect arrested in fatal Penn Hills hit-and-run

Investigators were able to identify the type of car involved in the incident based on pieces of it found at the scene and video surveillance in the area. They got a tip on May 10, 2019, that led them to Hi View Gardens in McKeesport.

They found the car - and its owner, Modesty Hopper - there. The vehicle had “dangerously unresponsive” brakes, and they only way to stop it was with the hand brake, investigators said.

Hopper, who was dating Burch, initially told detectives the car was uninsured and had not driven. However, video taken from the apartment complex the day of the crash showed Burch driving away in the car around 4 p.m. and returning around 10 p.m.

Hopper was charged with hindering apprehension and pleaded guilty. Borkowski ordered her to time served plus two years probation.

On Monday, Morris’ niece, Julie Hermanson, said her family has struggled to make sense of what happened and how Burch could have just left her uncle to die.

“The mental anguish that has been brought on to our family due to the act of irresponsibility and disregard to people, not just my uncle Joe, but everyone, is unbearable,” she said in her victim impact statement. “The emptiness inside of us due to Joe’s death will haunt us from that day and every day forward for the rest of our lives.”