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Savannah Mercedes Lopez is arrested after allegedly striking a 62-year-old man in a hit-and-run accident (via Bexar County Sheriff’s Office).
A woman who was apparently out on bond on a DWI charge is accused of striking a homeless man on the street and causing his death by internal decapitation.
Savannah Mercedes Lopez, 27, was arrested for allegedly striking the man in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday night. The victim showed no external signs of the injuries that killed him, officials said. At a press conference Thursday, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said that the man, who has not been publicly identified, was discovered by a pedestrian the following morning.
Salazar said that there were “no outward signs of injury” when the victim was first spotted, but an autopsy revealed that his internal injuries were “severe” — including blunt force trauma “that consisted of an internal decapitation.”
“Internally, it was as if he was decapitated,” Salazar explained. “Everything in his neck area was severed except for the skin, so it kept it all intact.”
“For all intents and purposes, he was decapitated on impact,” Salazar added. The victim’s death is believed to have been “almost instantaneous,” the sheriff added, noting that he had also suffered several broken bones, a brain bleed, and a broken neck and back.
It’s because of that near-instant death that “there was very little blood circulating at that point, hence the lack of external injuries,” Salazar said.
The sheriff said that it appeared the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when it struck the man.
“It appears he was hit from behind,” Salazar said. “It appears that his body basically conformed to the front bumper of the car, based on [his injuries] — it looks like his body made a backwards ‘u’ conforming to the front of that car.”
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A nearby doorbell camera captured the sound of the collision, but not the collision itself.
“It sounds like that suspect vehicle hit another car,” Salazar said. “It’s actually sickening to hear the sound of that impact.”
The camera also recorded sounds of the truck coming to a stop “before peeling off at a high rate of speed.” Investigators linked the crash to a white Dodge pickup that was seen on the camera at around the time of the incident. Officials canvassing the area spotted the truck the following day and eventually were able to contact and question Lopez and her husband.
Salazar said they gave conflicting stories as to how the visible damage to the truck could have occurred, and it soon “became obvious to our investigators that they were lying.” Eventually, Lopez admitted that she was the one behind the wheel, Salazar said.
The sheriff said that it may never be known if the driver was intoxicated or distracted at the time of the crash. He noted that Salazar was apparently out on bond on a DWI charge when the man was fatally struck.
Lopez is charged with failure to stop and render aid involving serious bodily injury and death.
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