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Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Vacationing woman hit by truck, killed in south Bibb

A 69-year-old Oregon woman bound for a vacation cruise to celebrate her 53rd wedding anniversary was hit by a truck and killed Wednesday morning as she walked across Hartley Bridge Road near the motel where she and her husband were staying.

The woman died at the scene after she was struck by a Ford Ranger pickup driven by 18-year-old Alex Reece King, a student on his way to Rutland High School, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said.

The victim, Bertha Grace Myers of Tillamook, about 50 miles west of Portland on the Oregon coast, was walking to a convenience store near the Americas Best Value Inn.

King will not be charged in the incident, according to authorities.

"Some very good witnesses that were behind him said there was nothing he could do to avoid the pedestrian," sheriff's Capt. Charlie Gunnels said. "She ran out in front of him."

Jones said a counselor from Rutland High was on the scene, just west of Interstate 75 in south Bibb County, where traffic was snarled for more than an hour.

The coroner said in the moments after the rush-hour incident, Myers' husband, Norman, did his best to console the driver.

"Let me tell you what a class act he is," Jones said of Norman Myers. "He wanted to give a Bible to the young man who hit his wife. You talk about a humbling experience. ... He hugged the young man and gave him some scriptures to read."

Staff writer Ashley Tusan Joyner contributed to this report.