Memphis, TN : Woman charged in deadly motorcycle crash on Wednesday September 26 2016
A woman was charged in a crash that left one motorcyclist dead and another injured.
According to the police report, Elixabeth Blackwood pulled out of her driveway near the intersection of Woodstock Cuba Road and Little John Road around 10 p.m. Wednesday. She was driving a truck that was pulling a trailer with a lawn mower on it.
Deputies said Blackwood did not yield right of way to a passing couple on a motorcycle, and the motorcycle hit the trailer. Both the driver and passenger on the motorcycle, Bruce and Cassie Kingdon, were thrown from their bike. Bruce was killed on the scene. Cassie was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Investigators said Blackwood's trailer, which did not have tail lights, was damaged in a way that the wheel would not roll properly. Blackwood then left the scene of the crash, dragging the trailer. Deputies said she left the victims in the street on an unlit road with no protection or defense. She pulled into a neighbor's driveway, drove down the side yard, and drove her car behind her home. An investigator said this seemed like an attempt to hide her car.
Blackwood then went inside her home without trying to help the injured couple and got her dad. After an unknown amount of time, a neighbor saw Blackwood standing near the street and called 911. Investigators said Blackwood never made an attempt to contact emergency crews.
Blackwood's mother, Beth Blackwood, said she does not believe her daughter should face charges.
"No, I don't," Beth said. "My daughter is emotionally traumatized."
However, according to SCSO officials, she left the scene of an accident. Deputies believe Blackwood was trying to hide the vehicle.
Beth Blackwood said her daughter was not trying to hide the vehicle, she was just moving it out of the road. She said this is just an accident.
"She circled back around the house. She pulled back around and pulled the truck back around behind this street," Earle Farrell, PIO for Shelby County Sheriff's Office, said. "Even though technically she got off the road, it's leaving the scene of a fatal accident."
"I hope that my daughter gets out of this because it wasn't--she didn't do anything intentionally," Beth Blackwood said.
Blackwood is charged with not giving information or rendering aid, leaving the scene of an accident involving death or an injury, not notifying emergency personnel of an accident, and not having lights on a trailer.
The Kingdons' daughter, April Hayne, said she wants full justice for her parents.