A 42-year-old Livingston woman has come forward and identified herself as the driver in a hit-and-run accident on Wednesday, Dec. 13, that claimed the life of a 49-year-old Rye woman, Teri Bellissima Rossi.
According to Sgt. Rob Willoughby, supervisor for the Liberty County DPS office, the driver surrendered herself and the vehicle to authorities just 18 hours after the article about the accident was posted on Bluebonnet News. The driver’s daughter saw the article and reported it to her mother, who assumed she had hit a deer in the middle of the roadway, Willoughby said.
“The driver had already reported the accident to her work and her insurance company because she was operating under the assumption that she hit a deer,” Willoughby said.
Upon learning of the accident, the driver, who has not been identified at this time, immediately drove her vehicle to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and surrendered it for testing. Willoughby said the woman is cooperating with the investigation.
“She said it was raining that night when she hit what she thought was a deer. She had gone to her daughter’s house in Liberty County and was on her way home to Livingston when the accident occurred. She stopped her vehicle, got out and tried to locate what she hit but said she had no luck. The woman claims two other vehicles passed her by while she was standing on the shoulder of the road,” Willoughby said.
The woman’s vehicle – a Dodge pickup truck – had damage consistent with hitting a deer or a person, Willoughby said.
“She is very remorseful and sad. We believe she honestly had no idea what she hit. She did not venture off the road and the pedestrian was walking in the roadway at the time of the accident,” he said.
The decedent was wearing blue jeans and a black jacket, which would have been hard to see on a dark, rainy roadway, Willoughby believes.
So far, the driver’s information has lined up with what authorities believe took place. She claimed she had stopped at a store about 15 minutes prior to the accident for a drink and a snack. DPS investigators confirmed the woman’s story.
When asked if alcohol or drugs may have been a factor in the accident, Willoughby said they do not suspect the driver but believe there is a good chance the decedent was under the influence at the time of her death. DPS is awaiting a toxicology report on the victim.
Willoughby is thankful to Bluebonnet News and its readers for locating the vehicle involved in this case.
“Without having Bluebonnet News post the article, we would still be searching through a list of suspect vehicles. We had narrowed it down to 250 vehicles of that make and model in Liberty and Polk counties. We would have had to look into each and every one. Thank you to the readers who pay attention to news stories in their communities. This case was solved because of you,” he said.
While no charges have been filed at this time, the case will be referred to a Liberty County grand jury that will determine if charges are warranted.