83-Year-Old Driver Charged In Boy's Hit-And-Run Death
WOODSTOCK, Ill. (CBS) -- Prosecutors in McHenry County have charged an 83-year-old woman with a Class 1 felony for the hit-and-run accident that killed a 6-year-old boy last Saturday night.
The sheriff's office says the woman, Veramae Phillip of Woodstock, told officers she thought she'd hit a tree branch.
Six-year-old Bryan Silva was killed when he tried to join his father on the other side of the road.
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McHenry County Undersheriff Andrew Zinke says Phillip turned herself in this afternoon, then posted $5,000 bail and was freed.
Bond had been set at $50,000 and Phillip was required to post 10 percent.
Phillip was charged with failure to report a fatal traffic crash and leaving the scene of a fatal traffic crash.
If convicted, the felony charge against her could carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, Zinke says.
Zinke says Phillip took her 2001 Chevy Malibu to a body shop in Marengo to repair damage to the hood and a headlight.
He says an employee at that body shop was aware of the story from media reports, and the employee contacted the sheriff's office.
The accident happened on a rural road between Marengo and Woodstock.
