Insets: James Shulski (Bensalem Police Department) and victim Harlem Dennis (Francis Funerals). Background: The car James Shulski was driving when he struck and killed Harlem Dennis (Bensalem Police Department).
A Pennsylvania man was sentenced Monday for running over a 14-year-old boy and leaving him to die in the street “like roadkill.”
James Shulski, 36, was handed a sentence of 2 1/2 to 5 years in state prison in the death of Harlem Dennis after he agreed to a plea deal in September that saw him admit guilt to violating “stop-and-render-aid” laws and a reduced felony charge of accidents involving death or personal injury. Instead of it being a felony 2, prosecutors agreed to drop the accidents involving death charge down to a felony 3 as part of his plea.
“There’s nothing that will bring Harlem back, nothing that would take this hole out of my children and my hearts,” said Terandace Dennis, mother of the victim, in an interview with the Bucks County Courier Times on Monday at Shulski’s sentencing.
“But I would like to see this man be away from his family like Harlem is away from his,” she said.
Shulski’s defense attorney, Paul Lang, reportedly read a letter of apology to the Dennis family before he was sentenced, which expressed his “deep regrets” for the “terrible actions” that Shulski took that night in July 2023 when he struck and killed Harlem Dennis as he was crossing a street in Bensalem.
Shulski reportedly claimed that he felt bad for not staying at the scene and promised to find a way to make amends with the Dennis family. But what they truly want he cannot give them, Terandace Dennis says.
“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.”
The deal that Shulski was given for Harlem Dennis’ death ultimately led to his possible prison sentence being cut in half — from a maximum of 10 years behind bars to five, according to the Courier Times. The judge overseeing his case, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Finley, told Shulski on Monday that while he was getting a plea agreement, it didn’t change the fact he left a minor to die.
“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 said, calling the fatal accident “horrible.”
Police said Harlem Dennis was walking with another teen from a Red Roof Inn to a local convenience store to get something to eat when Shulski struck him. Surveillance video showed a gray Honda Accord traveling in the same location as the crash.
“After striking the child … the vehicle was then tracked backward utilizing surveillance cameras,” Bensalem Police said in a press release. “Prior to the crash, the registration of the striking vehicle was captured by a license plate reader.”
The car was eventually traced back to Shulski, who was connected to the accident through cellphone records.
“A detailed review of those records placed James Shulski’s cellular phone near the crash scene at the time of the incident,” police said. “A search warrant for his DNA was served, and the DNA recovered from the vehicle’s steering wheel matched the known DNA sample of James Shulski.”
Two months before the fatal crash, Sulski was arrested for DUI-related charges in Warminster. He was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to 72 hours to six months in jail.
Shulski, who was out on $100,000 bond as the case was pending, was reportedly granted a 60-day delay to begin serving his sentence for the crash that killed Dennis.
