PORTLAND, Tenn. – A suspect has been placed behind bars in Sumner County, accused of hitting and killing a teenage girl -- then driving off.
Sumner County Sheriff's Deputies confirmed 42-year-old Amanda Hall has been charged with reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving on a revoked license.
Sumner County officials said Hall struck Brianna Lowe, 14, a student at Portland East Middle School, while she was walking back on Dobbins Pike from a nearby Dollar General Store. Lowe died as a result of the crash. The accident happened around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The victim's mother, Joyce Jacobs, said she came home around 9:30 p.m. to find a note from her daughter letting her know she had walked to the store. She later found out about the incident from neighbors.
"How can you hit a kid, knock her in a ditch, kill her and leave her there?" said Jacobs teafully. "I don’t understand that."
Lowe was walking with her friend 13-year-old Christene Marchitto at the time of the accident. Marchitto said the two had a flashlight turned on their phones, and she felt an oncoming car would have seen them. She said the accident happened quickly. She tried to give her friend CPR and called police.
"I didn’t see the car," said Marchitto. "I heard the impact of her and the car, and that’s all. The look on her face when she was dead. That won’t go away. All night last night I was depressed and crying all night. When I got my friends around me I felt a little bit better."
Hall was being held on a $125,000 bond.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses for Lowe.
Visitation for Lowe has been set for noon Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday at Portland Funeral Chapel followed by her funeral Saturday at 1 p.m.
