A Morgantown woman was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death for a late December accident on Dorsey Avenue.
Codie Leigh Richards, 27, of Morgantown, was arrested at her home by officers of the Morgantown Police Department with the assistance of deputies from the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department.
The accident occurred on Dec. 28, on Dorsey Avenue, near the intersection of Marcus Drive.
Officers of the Morgantown Police Department responded to a report of a vehicular collision, and determined a 2003 Mazda MPV minivan crossed the center line and collided head-on with a 2018 Ford Fiesta operated by Shelly Duffer, 57, of Morgantown.
Following the collision, the driver of the Mazda MPV drove from the scene, heading toward the South Park area, where the vehicle caught fire and was disabled on Ross Street. The driver then fled from the vehicle on foot.
Duffer was transported by Mon EMS to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital due to injuries sustained in the collision. She died Jan. 9 — 12 days after the crash.
During an investigation, officers were able to determine the driver of the Mazda MPV at the time of the collision was Richards. She was charged with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death (Erin’s Law). Richards was processed and arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court Wednesday. Bond was set at $10,000.
Richards was not listed as being in the regional jail system Wednesday evening.
Erin’s Law requires any driver involved in an accident that results in injury or death to immediately stop at the scene or as close as possible, return to the scene, and remain there until authorities release them. It is named for Erin Keener, who was 21 in 2005 when she was run over outside a Fairmont bar and died of her injuries. The driver responsible has not been found.
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