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DUI Driver Charged In Crash That Killed Montco Mom: DA

A DUI driver faces homicide by vehicle charges for the Nov. 25, 2023 crash that killed Laishah “Nala” Holloman, an area farm manager and beekeeper with New Jersey roots, prosecutors say. 

Nala Bloom and Shaikan Pitts.

Nala Bloom and Shaikan Pitts.

Photo Credit: Nala Bloom Facebook/Montgomery County DA

Shaikan Pitts, a 33-year-old Philadelphia resident, is being held in lieu of a $90,000 bond, said the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday. 

Pitts' Nissan Rogue struck Holloman's white Ford van as she pulled out of a driveway near Old York Road and Spring Avenue in Elkins Park, investigators said.

Pitts' Nissan hit the van "with such force that it caused the van to go into a spin and then overturn," according to authorities. First responders found 38-year-old Holloman under her van and pronounced her dead at the scene. 

Prosecutors said Pitts, who does not have a driver's license, was going nearly 70 mph in a 40 mph zone. He also allegedly had a blood alcohol content of .135% and had cannabinoids in his system, the DA's Office said. 

Nala's obituary says she was born in Orange, NJ, and grew up both in North Carolina and Franklin Township (Somerset County), NJ, and attended Middlesex County College and Fairleigh Dickerson University.

She was honored by Gov. Chris Christie's office in 2015 for being selected among the state's all-state academic team, "representing New Jersey’s best and brightest community college student scholars who were inducted into the NJ Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society," her obituary reads.

Nala had most recently been working as the farm manager of Wyncote Academy's urban agriculture program, and enjoyed working as a beekeeper and running farmers markets. She was survived by a daughter, colleagues said. 

Pitts was arrested Tuesday, March 26 and is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, the DA's Office said. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 8. 

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