No Homicide Charge in Hit-and-Run: Report

The driver in a fatal hit-and-run wreck on March 21 will not be charged with homicide by vehicle, according to an AJC report.

Brian Anthony Russell, 51, of Douglasville was charged with hit and run resulting in serious injury after turning himself in March 22.

He is accused of killing Audrey Hartley, 56, while she was crossing the road between midnight and 1 a.m. Sunday at the Midway Road/Fairburn Road intersection.

Read more: Driver Charged in Fatal Weekend Hit-and-Run

The AJC reports that the district attorney ruled out the homicide charge because there was no evidence of reckless driving or that Russell was intoxicated.

“The reality is, it is either a complete accident or a vehicular homicide and by fleeing the scene and waiting to turn himself in, it makes it almost impossible for us to know whether it was a vehicular homicide or not,” prosecutor David Emadi told the paper.

Read more of the AJC report.

Includes reporting by Scott Bernarde