Kiera McKay, 23, of Randallstown, was killed in the Thursday afternoon incident. Police said it happened at about 3:15 p.m. near North Calhoun Street and West Lexington Street.

According to the Maryland Transit Police, the Honda Accord the suspect had been driving was reported stolen several days earlier from a west Baltimore MARC train parking lot.

On Thursday, the city's regional auto theft task force spotted the vehicle in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Mulberry Street, police said.

The task force kept the vehicle under observation while it tried to set up an apprehension of the driver, Sky Team 11 Capt. Roy Taylor reported, when the driver started driving erratically.

According to a source who heard internal police radio transmissions during the incident, officers were advised not to get in front of the suspect's car because it was traveling too fast.

"Based on the way the driver reacted when he saw police . they were ordered to break it off; however, he continued on, and it ended up in a fatal collision," said Detective Donny Moses of the Baltimore city police.

Taylor said the driver took off westbound at a high rate of speed on Lexington Street, eventually striking McKay's vehicle going southbound on Calhoun Street.

The incident happened near North Calhoun Street and West Lexington Street.

Witnesses estimated the suspect's car was going 80 to 100 mph before impact, and that McKay's car flipped several times.

The crash pushed her vehicle about 67 feet until it rested upon a tree, Taylor said. McKay was pronounced dead at Shock Trauma.

McKay was returning from a doctor's appointment at the time of the crash. Family members told 11 News she had just been diagnosed with lupus, a disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues and organs.

McKay's family described her as friendly and kind. She is survived by her parents, two sisters and her 6-year-old daughter.

The alleged carjacker, whose name hasn't been released, was arrested at the scene and is currently being treated for a severe leg injury. The culprit faces charges that include manslaughter, reckless endangerment and driving a stolen automobile, authorities said Friday.