He fled the scene of a fatal MS Coast wreck. Two surviving victims chased him down.
A Mobile man is headed to prison for 10 years for felony leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in the death of a Long Beach woman.
Judge Christopher Schmidt on Monday sentenced William Barney Lee, 51, to a total of 20 years in prison, but suspended 10 years, leaving him 10 years to serve. In addition, the judge ordered Lee to serve five years under post-release supervision and fined him $2,000.
Lee jumped out of his 2003 Chevrolet Silverado and ran from the April 27, 2018, crash involving three vehicles in D’Iberville.
His pickup truck crashed into the rear of a 2016 Chevrolet Sonic and then hit the rear driver’s side of a Hyundai Sonata.
The driver and passenger of the Sonata then chased Lee under the I-110 bridge and cornered him against a fence, where he surrendered and waited on police to make the arrest.
D’Iberville police initially arrested Lee on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident causing serious injuries, but the charge was upgraded after one of the drivers, Maggie Fletcher, 24, of Long Beach, died a couple days after the crash.
A grand jury had indicted Lee on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident and felony DUI causing death.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the felony DUI charge was dropped.
In addition to the prison sentence, Lee has been fined on other other misdemeanor offenses for driving with an expired/switched or no tag and driving without a license.
The Harrison County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case.
