Family of fatal hit-and-run victim says Macon deputies got the facts wrong. What we know

The family of a woman who was recently killed in a hit-and-run in Macon says the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office has the facts wrong in its investigation, and they’re trying to piece together what happened.

Victoria Otto was hit by at least one vehicle while standing on Interstate 75 in the early morning hours of Feb. 16. But the family is seeking clarity about the moments before deputies arrived, and how the sheriff’s office could’ve gotten major details wrong, such as other injuries and possible leads to find a suspect.

A few hours after the incident, the sheriff’s office sent a news release to local media outlets that said Ashley Otto, 25, drove a Kia with her older sister, 28-year-old Victoria Otto, in the passenger seat. The release said, “Ashley pulled over to the left shoulder of the interstate while having a disagreement with her sister.” The release said Victoria Otto got out of the vehicle and ran across I-75 when she was hit by a vehicle that kept going.

Deputy Coroner Ronnie Miley pronounced Victoria Otto dead at the scene, according to the release. An ambulance took Ashley Otto to Atrium Health Navicent where she was listed in stable condition, the media release said.

Those details differed from an incident report filled out by the sheriff’s office and obtained by The Telegraph five days later.

The incident report and the family say Victoria Otto was driving, not her sister. The incident report and the family also clarified that the initial media release had Victoria Otto’s age wrong: she was 29. The incident report also said a singular vehicle struck Victoria Otto, but the family said a deputy at the scene told them she was struck a few times.

The family, and a good Samaritan who was driving past the scene, say the discrepancies and inaccuracies extend beyond that.

“They had wrote us off as two drunken girls fighting, playing in the middle of the road, and that’s not what f****** happened,” Ashley Otto said.

Their parents also said the case investigator, Shannon Moseley, agreed with the family that body camera footage showed some key details were left out or incorrectly noted by deputies who were at the scene.

“The story that ... was given ... not one word is the truth,” Amanda Inglett, the daughters’ mom, told The Telegraph.

The sheriff’s office did not address any of the allegations, and only sent an incident report in response to The Telegraph’s request for comment and body camera footage. The sheriff’s office did not respond when contacted again with regards to the accusations.

What the family says actually happened

Ashley Otto had cuts, bruises and swelling from damaged ligaments and tendons to her right leg, and gauze wrapped around a finger at her family’s home Wednesday evening in Milner.

The severity of her injuries was downplayed in an incident report from the sheriff’s office, which said she “had minor cuts and scrapes from trying to drag Victoria off the roadway.”

Ashley Otto clarified that the sisters weren’t fighting.

“The tire blew, and she popped her arm like this,” Ashley Otto said, mimicking when Victoria Otto allegedly flung her arm at Ashley Otto. “I was in the passenger seat and she done like that just out of frustration. And so that was (where) the whole ‘we were fighting, she hit me’ came from.”

Ashley Otto alleged Victoria Otto got out of the car to look at the tire, which is when she was hit and killed by a vehicle. But the sheriff’s office said Victoria Otto was hit when she “began to run across the interstate” after an argument.

Deputies said the alleged argument stemmed from “when Victoria Otto got upset after her and her boyfriend had broke up” over the phone at Billy’s Clubhouse, a dive bar on Forest Hill Road. While an issue with the boyfriend did happen, according to Ashley Otto, they never argued about anything in the car.

Ashley Otto said she was also hit by a vehicle while trying to save her sister, but the sheriff’s office never mentioned that.

Chrissy Lynn Brown, the owner of Fatty’s Pizza, Parish on Cherry and Steve’s Steak and Seafood, didn’t know the family but was driving by the scene when she saw something was wrong. She parked diagonally across the lanes to block traffic, comforted Ashley Otto while deputies were dispatched and spoke with their parents after.

“I just didn’t want you to get hurt,” Brown told Ashley Otto while hugging and crying Wednesday at the Otto and Inglett house.

It was the first time the strangers saw each other since the crash.

“You made sure you waited until the end. People don’t do that,” Inglett told Brown, and called her “a literal angel walking the earth.”

Brown responded, “No, are you kidding me? I didn’t want to leave her. I wasn’t going to leave her.”

Brown said a few vehicles turned around, paused at the scene, then continued driving.

“She was so peaceful laying there. She was just so beautiful,” Brown said.

They all sat in the living room after gathering art pieces and belongings of Victoria Otto’s that were now scattered throughout the house. She was studying art at Gordon State College and ran her own cleaning business, her family said.

A celebration of life will be held where people can go fishing in honor of Victoria Otto, who loved the hobby. Her mom plans to cater food from Brown’s restaurants at the event as a thank you for doing what she believes saved Ashley Otto’s life.

“There’s a lot of happy fish right now because they are safe, because she would snatch the lips right off of them,” Inglett joked.

Her family demanded justice for Victoria Otto, and wanted clarity from the sheriff’s office.

“There’s somebody who’s responsible for turning our entire world upside down,” Inglett told The Telegraph.

This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 4:23 PM.