Cheyenne White (Genesee County Sheriff’s Office) and Sebastian Klein (WSMH/YouTube screenshot)
A 26-year-old woman in Michigan has been arrested after she allegedly killed a man on his way to McDonald’s in a hit-and-run collision earlier this month, telling police she did not stop or call authorities because she “didn’t think she hit him that hard.”
Cheyenne White was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in serious impairment or death in the death of 26-year-old Sebastian Klein, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
Officers with the Mount Morris Township Police Department at about 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 9, responded to an emergency call regarding a pedestrian involved in a car crash in the area of Kelly Road and N. Elms Road, according to a report from Flint, Michigan Fox affiliate WSMH. The intersection is located about 65 miles northwest of Detroit.
Upon arriving, first responders said they were able to locate the adult male victim — later identified as Klein — lying on the ground on the south side of Kelly Road. Emergency medical personnel were already rendering aid to Klein when police reached the scene. Klein succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives at the scene said they were able to find a passenger side mirror which believed to have been from the vehicle that fatally struck Klein, Bay City, Michigan CBS affiliate WNEM reported. Using a manufacturer number from the mirror, investigators were reportedly able to confirm that the mirror came from a vehicle made by Chrysler.
Authorities combed through surveillance footage from the area until they spotted a Jeep, which is owned by Chrysler, missing a passenger side mirror that appeared to match the color of the mirror found at the scene. The Jeep also appeared to have damage to the front end of the vehicle.
Investigators surmised that the driver of the Jeep likely worked or regularly visited someone near the scene of the accident and began canvassing the area, WNEM reported. Officers on June 12 said they spotted the Jeep in the employee parking lot of a local nursing home and waited for the owner to return to their vehicle.
White reportedly exited the nursing home and confirmed to police that she owned the vehicle. She was taken into custody and allegedly confessed to hitting someone with her vehicle on June 9.
During that interview, White reportedly said that she did not call 911 or try to help the pedestrian she had struck, explaining to detectives that she “didn’t think she hit him that hard.”
Mary Cross, Klein’s girlfriend of 10 years, told WSMH that Klein was “on his way to McDonald’s” when he was killed.
“It just felt like the floor got ripped from underneath me, like my life is so it’s very changed now. It’ll be changed forever,” she told the station.
White is currently scheduled to appear in court for a probable cause hearing on June 27.
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