New details emerge after deadly hit-and-run may have stemmed from love triangle, lawyer says

New details have emerged in a deadly hit-and-run in South Jersey that claimed the life of a mother of three, with the suspect appearing in court on Thursday where it was suggested the incident may have stemmed from a love triangle.

Soon after 30-year-old Ajee Williams was brought into court, it became clear that this was not the typical hit-and-run. 

Williams and the victim, Carla Mahan, knew each other and were both involved with the same man. 

The new detail was mentioned by her defense lawyer during Williams' first court appearance today.

"There's bad blood between these two parties and of course it involves a man," the defense lawyer stated. "It involves my client's children's father and a sexual relationship with this woman."

"He observed a physical altercation between two females," the prosecutor quoted an eyewitness.

When 41-year-old Carla Mahan, a mother of three, and defendant Ajee Williams, a mother of two who had just picked up her three and five-year-old children in her Dodge Durango, got into a physical altercation, the situation escalated. 

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Father speaks out after woman accused of 'purposely' running over his daughter in fatal hit-and-run

Carlos Mahan is speaking out after his daughter, 41-year-old Carla Mahan, was fatally struck during a hit-and-run in Camden. Officials have charged 30-year-old Ajee Williams with Mahan's murder.

The prosecutor charged that Williams ran over Mahan intentionally, while Williams' lawyer argued it was accidental. 

After the two got into a physical fight in Camden, the witness said Carla broke free and began to walk away.

But Williams, according to the eyewitness, didn't just drive away. "A couple seconds later, he heard a woman he knows as Diamond say, 'Damn, she ran her over.'," said the prosecutor.

"My client was essentially fleeing an attack," Williams' defense lawyer explained. "My client got out of the car, a fight ensued. My client got back in the car and then at some point, while my client is back in the car, words are exchanged. At some point, the victim pulled a switchblade. Attempted to get in the car from the passenger side. My client panicked, backed up, went forward and in that maneuvering, the victim unfortunately was run over."

Summing up the case, the prosecutor described Carla's last moments: "Someone who is out on the street getting beat up, the outcome a grassy lot trying to get away on their feet being run over by an SUV," he said.

The judge decided to uphold the first-degree charge and hold Williams in jail until her next hearing a week before Christmas.