Mother of 5 killed in car crash after boyfriend cuts brake line to make crack pipe, police say

Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania mother of five died in a car accident after her boyfriend cut her brake lines to make a pipe for crack cocaine, police said.

Tammy Fox, 38, of Scranton, Pa., was driving a black Hyundai Sonata on Aug. 22 when she accelerated but couldn't stop, causing her to hit several parked cars before slamming into a tree. She died on the way to the hospital.

Pennsylvania State Police said John William Jenkins Jr., 39, admitted to cutting the brake lines the night before the crash "in an attempt to obtain a metal pipe that could be used to smoke crack cocaine."

According to police, Jenkins said he didn't know he cut a brake line and reached under the car for something he could make a pipe out of.

Jenkins is charged with criminal homicide and is being held without bail.

Before her death, Fox was scheduled to be a a witness in a case against Lackawanna County corrections officers accused of corruption and sexually assaulting female inmates, a woman who did not want her name revealed told WNEP-TV.

"From what I understand she was run off the road a month or so ago and it just seems wrong, you cut somebody's brake line to use the line to smoke crack? I mean that's a little far-fetched," the woman said.

She added: "She was a very sweet, caring person. She'd done a lot of things for other people and this is what happens, it's just horrible."

A memorial has been set up on the street where Fox lived and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help her family with funeral expenses.