A woman was arrested recently after a tragic incident occurred in Belmont. The North Carolina woman was involved in a fatal accident in which she is accused of hitting and killing an elderly woman. The investigating officers hypothesize that the crash occurred because the woman was texting while driving, and she has been charged with murder.
The 45-year-old Gastonia woman was driving her SUV in Belmont. The investigators suspect that she veered her vehicle to the right, causing her to drive off the road and hit several stationary objects. Those included a mailbox, numerous trash cans and a telephone pole. She also purportedly hit a 75-year-old pedestrian who was apparently on her way to visit a neighbor.
It is unclear whether the driver suffered any injuries from the accident. The pedestrian was transported to an area hospital where she died from her injuries. In addition to second-degree murder, the woman was also charged with reckless driving, driving while impaired and driving without a license.
In order for the murder charge as well as the other charges to be sustained against the North Carolina woman in court, sufficient evidence will need to be presented by the prosecution to prove that the woman was criminally responsible for the crash. Additionally, the prosecution will likely need to establish that the woman was actually texting while driving. If these accusations are not properly documented in court, some — or potentially all — of the pending charges could be dropped or reduced, depending on the weight of the remaining evidence.
Source: newsobserver.com, NC woman charged with murder, texting in wreck, No author, Feb. 9, 2014