Man Sentenced After Fatal Hit-And-Run, Victim's Mother Accuses Him of Leaving Son in Street 'Like Roadkill'

James Shulski, 36, of Trevose, PA was facing a possible 10 year sentence before he agreed to plead guilty, eliminating the need for a trial. In exchange, his felony charge for accidents involving death or personal injury was reduced from felony 2 to felony 3, leaving him with a maximum possible sentence of five years.

On Monday, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Finley sentenced Shulski to 2 1/2 to 5 years behind bars, plus six years probation to be served concurrently.

"Rather than have the courage to stay there and provide assistance and cooperate with police, you took this from an accident to criminal conduct," Finley told Shulski.

Shulski had previously been convicted of DUI-related charges dating to a May 2023 arrest, just two months before this fatal hit-and-run, according to court records reported by the Bucks County Courier-Times. He was sentenced to 72 hours to six months in jail for that incident.

On the night of July 6, 2023, Harlem Dennis was hanging out with his friends in Bensalam, Pennsylvania when they decided to walk across the street to buy snacks at a convenience store.

"My son had on reflector clothes, he knew the rules," Harlem's mother Terandance told Philadelphia's WPVI-TV. "He knew how to cross the street."

He was also familiar with the area as the Bucks County Courier-Times reports Terandance and her four children lived at the hotel they were walking from, where she also worked part-time.

It was approximately 10:15 p.m. when Shulski came upon the boys crossing the street. Per the Courier-Times, he swerved out of the left lane to avoid them. Unfortunately, Harlem dove toward the center lane in his attempt to avoid getting hit.

He was allegedly struck by Shulski's Honda Accord, and then again by a second vehicle while he was lying in the road. Authorities reported in their probably cause affidavit, per the newspaper, the "force of the impact left Harlem's shoes, socks and other personal items strewn throughout the center lane."

While both cars initially stopped after the accident, Shulski allegedly got back into his car after about two minutes and left the scene before police arrived. An autopsy by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office determined Harlem's cause of death as blunt trauma to the head and chest.

Terandance told the Courier-Times she was initially told the car that struck and killed her son had stayed at the scene. It was the following day when she saw on the news that there was a second vehicle involved that had left the scene.

Surveillance video seen by investigators revealed a gray Honda Accord had been traveling along the same road as the accident just before 10:15 p.m., per WPVI-TV. They were able to track its movements backwards through additional cameras until they got a clear read of the license plate.

Police were able to positively ID the vehicle and went to the registered address of its owner, per the outlet. There, they reported finding the vehicle with damage consistent with striking a pedestrian.

They also made contact with the vehicle owner, Shulski's father, who told them believed his son, who also lived at the residence, had the vehicle that night, per the probable cause affidavit. The younger Shulski refused to answer any police questions, they reported.

As such, authorities obtained a search warrant for the Accord, as well as Shulski's phone records. Those records placed him near the scene at the time of the accident, while DNA evidence on the steering wheel matched the younger Shulski.

Shulski turned himself in on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, before ultimately bailing out after posting 10 percent of $100,000, per WPVI-TV.

Before his sentencing on Monday, Shulski's defense attorney Paul Lang read a letter of apology from his client, where he expressed "deep regrets" for his "terrible actions." He promised to find a way to make amends to the Dennis family, but it's too late to give them what they truly want.

"I can’t help but to think what if the driver stopped and called for help instead of getting out of the car and looking at my 14-year-old son and then getting back in his car and driving off and going about his night," she told the Courier-Times. "He left him there like roadkill."

"There’s nothing that will bring Harlem back, nothing that would take this hole out of my children and my hearts," she added. "But I would like to see this man be away from his family like Harlem is away from his."