PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The 20-year-old driver accused of killing a teenage girl on Southeast Hawthorne Friday was sobbing during his first court appearance Monday.
Abdulrahman Noorhah faces 2nd-degree manslaughter, hit-and-run and reckless driving charges in the death of 15-year-old Fallon Smart.
The teen, who would have been a sophomore at Franklin High School, was crossing SE Hawthorne around 42nd when the Lexus allegedly driven by Noorah hit and killed her.
Investigators said Noorah was speeding between 55 and 60 mph and was allegedly passing vehicles in the center lane along Hawthorne between 46th and 43rd.
Witnesses said the Lexus didn’t stop after hitting the teen, but he came back and was later arrested.
That section of the road is covered with flowers, notes, pictures and signs in a makeshift memorial for Fallon Smart.
Her friend, Oliver McFadden, said he got a text about the crash.
“They told me she got hit by a car and I didn’t believe them at first,” McFadden told KOIN 6 News.
Noorah, a Saudi citizen in the United States on a school scholarship, is being held on $1 million bail. His public defender argued he should be released because he is not a flight risk.
His next court appearance is scheduled for August 30.