A 27-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday when authorities said she returned to the scene of a hit-and-run accident that killed a boy on his bicycle.
Investigators were collecting more evidence and canvassing the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Rockdale County the day after the 10-year-old, whose name was not released, was struck on his way home from a convenience store. They saw a car drive by matching a description of the suspect’s vehicle, according to Sheriff Eric Levett.
Lakeya Shumate was taking the same route to work she does every day, Levett said Wednesday during a news conference. The DeKalb County woman was arrested after a traffic stop.
“We are confident that she is the driver and she owns the vehicle that struck him, and I think she owes the family an explanation,” he said.
Investigators learned they were looking for a silver Toyota Camry after being tipped off by the boy’s 12-year-old friend, Levett said. After a passerby, the 12-year-old was the second person to call police to report the accident shortly after 8:30 p.m. Monday.
The two boys were riding their bikes on Ebenezer Road when the 10-year-old was hit near the entrance to a day care. The sheriff did not say if the boys were riding in the road, but he acknowledged there is a small section of sidewalk between the day care and a gas station on the corner of Ebenezer and Ga. 138.
The 12-year-old said the person who hit his friend was driving a car like his grandfather’s, a Camry. The damage to Shumate’s Camry is consistent with their investigation, according to Levett.
“It is a tragedy to strike any human being or anyone, especially a child,” he said. “But to leave the scene of an accident when you strike someone is just not acceptable, in my mind, in my heart or in my county, or in any county for that fact.”
Shumate was still being held in the county jail Wednesday. She is facing charges of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, but Levett said more charges are possible. There was no indication of substance use, he said.
Bruce McNair, the 10-year-old’s grandfather, said the recently family moved to the area and his grandson had just started attending school in person. Despite his short tenure, the boy’s bus driver came to their home to express her condolences to the family, McNair said during the news conference.
“In the position that she’s in, she told us that she can tell the good ones,” he said through tears. “He was a good one.”
About the Author
