A 72-year-old woman from Florida was arrested and charged in connection with a hit-and-run who killed two young boys and left their mother in a coma.
June Fenton, a recently retired hospice employee, was arrested on Monday evening, almost three weeks after the devastating crash on 10 February in Sarasota.
The police said that Fenton rode in the Witte Lexus who hit 29-year-old Taeler Joy Bennett and her two sons when she crossed us 301 near 7th Street.
Bennett was thrown into the windshield of Fenton, so that the whole thing shattered, according to the office of the state.
Five -month -old Kiylen Galliher and his two -year -old brother, Rio, were killed in the crash. Kiylen was tied to his mother's chest, while Rio was in a pram, WFLA reported.
Bennett survived, but public prosecutors said on Tuesday that they suffered serious brain damage and was included in a rehabilitation facility 'with in fact no brain function or reaction'.
Fenton is confronted with two counts to leave the scene of a trafficcrash, resulting in a deadly and one count of leaving a traffic scrench that results in a serious injury.
Prosecutors have indicated before the court that they intend to upgrade the charges if the situation of Bennett is deteriorating or when she dies.
Taeler Joy Bennett, 29, holds her son Kiylen Galliher. Kiylen was five months old when he was killed at the hit-and-run crash. Bennett survived but has 'actually not brain function', according to public prosecutors
Bennett's two -year -old son Rio also died in the crash. He was then in a pram
Candice McCormick, the great -grandmother of the four children of Bennett, including Kiylen and Rio, had harsh words for the driver.
“She left and left the stage. I mean, that tells you. In the beginning it was an accident, but now it is – she killed my two grandsons, so it's very different, “said McCormick.
McCormick said that Bennett had just moved from her house in Michigan to Florida six months ago. She never met Kiylen personally, although she spoke with him at Facetime, CBS reported.
The police were able to arrest Fenton by collecting first pieces of a broken headlight at the crash location, WWSB reported.
Then they took those glass fragments to local Lexus dealers to find out which model they came from.
As soon as they had the right model, they went from door to door inspection of dozens of vehicles until they were led directly to Fenton's front door.
In her first court on Tuesday, Fenton was dressed in an orange jumpsuit when her lawyer sparkled with the persecution about what her band had to be put on.
Derek Byrd, Fenton's lawyer, said he did not believe she is a risk risk, referring to her lack of criminal history and her cooperation with the police.
Prosecutors said that Fenton cooperates with law enforcement “is not what happened.”
The victims were only a few seconds in the pedestrian crossing of US 301 and were 'clearly visible' when he was struck by Fenton, said prosecutors.
They claimed that Fenton kept driving south before he made a U-turn and went back to the scene of the crash.
Displayed: June Fenton, 72, appeared in court on Tuesday after he was arrested the day before and charged. Her lawyer claims she thought she had hit a dog and says she won't argue guilty
Displayed: The scene of the hit-and-run collision of 10 February in Sarasota
According to public prosecutors, Bennett and her two sons were still in the middle of the road and were surrounded by witnesses who tried to see if they were in order.
Fenton drove away again and changed to a neighborhood where the police say they were not living, said public prosecutors.
Byrd said that his client did not know how serious the crash was, instead she claimed that she believed she had hit a dog.
“She loves dogs, and when she circled back to see if it was a dog and she saw people standing in a dark place that she thought there might have been there … She loves animals, she didn't want to see the dog suffer, so she went home,” said Byrd.
Eventually the judge chose the side of the persecution and set Fenton's bond to $ 650,000. Her lawyer initially asked for an amount of $ 30,000.
If Fenton comes out on Bond, she is not allowed to drive and she must always wear a GPS -Ondelmonitor.
Bryant Camareno, a criminal lawyer who is not involved in the case, said ABC 7 that Fenton is probably confronted with at least 15 years, although the state could find the maximum of 30 years.
Fenton will appear in about a month before her preliminary guide, where she is planning not to argue.
