A Boston art collector was killed during a morning walk with his dog in what authorities are describing as an intentional hit-and-run, according to police and media reports. A driver crashed into John Axelrod at the Commonwealth Avenue mall, a public historic park in Boston, on Saturday, January 3, NBC News reported. The driver, William Haney, drove off after authorities said he hit Axelrod, 79, who received medical treatment in the park and later died at a nearby hospital, the Boston Police Department said in a news release. Axelrod's dog, Tale, was also killed as a result of the crash, Boston police officer Mark Marron confirmed in a statement to Us Weekly on Monday, January 5. Now Haney, 42, of Boston, is charged with murder and cruelty to animals, according to police. Information on Haney's legal representation was not immediately available. Brian Walshe Sentenced to Life for Murdering Wife Ana Axelrod had been walking with a friend and their dogs along the Commonwealth Avenue mall in the city's Back Bay neighborhood when authorities alleged Haney drove into the green space on January 3, the Boston Globe reported. Haney "intentionally" struck Axelrod, prosecutors said, according to the newspaper. A motive, if known, has not been disclosed. Following the crash, police located Haney's vehicle "unoccupied" in Brookline, a nearby Boston suburb, authorities said. Haney was arrested as a result of an investigation involving the Boston Police Department's Homicide Unit and the Brookline Police Department, according to police. Both agencies collaborated with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office to make the arrest. He ultimately turned himself in to authorities, NBC News reported. Axelrod is being remembered as a prominent Boston philanthropist who supported the city's Museum of Fine Arts, the Boston Globe reported. He was "a generous supporter and passionate advocate for underrepresented artists," the museum said in a statement to the newspaper. The museum is home to the John Axelrod Collection, which represents nearly 70 pieces of art created by Black artists, the museum told the newspaper. Missouri Man Killed Grandmother, Stabbed Her 2 French Bulldogs Reacting to Axelrod's death, the museum's director, Pierre Terjanian, told WCVB-TV that it was "so unexpected." "I spoke with him over the phone not so long ago, and we're talking about things we would do together," Terjanian. "It's a terrible loss for the museum, for the community we represent, and certainly he was a champion of causes that we wanted to continue to pursue," Terjanian added while speaking with the TV station. Axelrod was the Museum of Fine Arts' Honorary Advisor and had supported the museum since the 1980s, the museum said in a statement on his death, WCVB-TV reported. The museum said "his legacy will live on" through the John Axelrod Collection. "John gave the MFA substantial collections of 20th-century European decorative arts, including numerous examples of Memphis Group designs, and, between 2008-2015, some 377 pieces of American Modern design from the 1920s and '30s," the museum also said. "The John Axelrod Gallery in the Art of the Americas Wing, featuring American Modern design, was named in his honor in 2009." Haney was set to be arraigned in Axelrod's murder on Monday, January 5, according to Boston police.