Background: The Pilot Travel Center in Mount Sterling, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset left: Felicia Joseph (GoFundMe). Inset right: Arionne Harris (Montgomery County Sheriff's Office).
A man in Kentucky is accused of intentionally crashing into and killing a woman at a truck stop and then driving away.
Arionne Harris, 26, has been charged with murder in the death of 36-year-old Felicia Joseph, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office announced. He was detained in Kansas by the U.S. Marshals Service and was set to be extradited to Kentucky to face the charge.
On Sept. 29, Joseph was at the Pilot Travel Center in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. The area is about 35 miles east of Lexington.
According to authorities, Harris was there at the same time. The man allegedly hit Joseph with his vehicle in the rear parking lot of the truck stop and then drove off. As regional NBC affiliate WLEX reported, Joseph's family believed there was nothing accidental about the crash, instead calling it a "targeted attack."
Authorities have released few details about the allegations while they build their case. The sheriff's office said its deputies were dispatched to the Pilot truck stop "in reference to a 911 hang-up" regarding a welfare check.
The incident began in the rear parking lot of Pilot and continued onto a nearby road, the sheriff's office said. Investigators "quickly" identified Harris as a suspect "using forensic and digital evidence," according to the sheriff's office.
At the time, Harris was wanted on a "full-extradition warrant out of Texas for failure to comply with the sex offender registry," authorities added.
Joseph's mother said in a statement shared by the local outlet that they "aren't going to discuss the circumstances of her death while the investigation is ongoing," but what she "want[s] people to remember is Felicia. She was bold. She was loving. She was a fighter. She was a mother. And she was deeply loved."
The victim's obituary states that Joseph had an 18-year-old child and 3-year-old twins.
"Felicia enjoyed tattoos, cooking, and spending time with the people she loved. She had a tenacity about her — a determination to keep moving forward even when life was difficult. She fought, she persevered, and she kept going," it states. "Her life was taken far too soon. There are no words that can adequately express the loss of a daughter, sister, mother, and loved one. What remains is the love she gave, the memories she created, and the mark she left on the people fortunate enough to know her."
Comments