Following Wimbledon Win, Venus Williams Gets Emotional About Fatal Accident
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LONDON (CBSMiami) – Five-time Wimbledon champions Venus Williams left a news conference in tears on Monday after she was asked questions about the fatal motor accident she was involved in that led to the death of a 78-year-old man.
Williams was talking to the media after coming through a tricky first-round match against Belgian Elise Mertens where she emerged with a 7-6(7) 6-4 victory.
The 37-year-old Williams has had a stressful build-up to the tournament after last week, police blamed her driving for the June 9 accident in Florida.
Williams posted a message on her Facebook page Friday saying she was heartbroken about the incident, the day after Palm Beach Gardens police released a preliminary report saying she was the driver at fault in the accident that left Jerome Barson, a passenger in the other car, with fatal injuries.
After the crash, Barson was taken to a Florida trauma center where he died 13 days later, according to the Palm Beach county medical examiner.
The police report estimated Williams was travelling at about 5 miles per hour at the time of impact and was not distracted or suspected of any drug or alcohol use.
Williams' attorney, Malcolm Cunningham, did not directly address the accident report's finding that his client was at fault, but said the tennis star was not issued "any citations or traffic violations."
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)