Hartselle man charged in hit and run

By Staff
Clif Knight and Tracy B. Cieniewicz, Hartselle Enquirer
David Leon Hicks. 38, of Hartselle has been charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident in connection with the pedestrian traffic death of Carrie Vanessa Rush, 39, also of Hartselle.
Rush was struck by a moving car as she was walking and pushing her 1-year-old son, Phoenix, in a stroller along Highway 31, north of Hartselle, on July 24. Decatur police officers found her lifeless body in the highway median and her son alive in his stroller in a northbound lane at approximately 11:35 p.m. They responded to a call made by a passing motorist who spotted the mother and child and was concerned for their safety. The child was transported by Med-Flight to Huntsville Hospital where he was treated and released.
Hicks was found at his home at 195 Forest Chapel Road on July 28 and voluntarily transported to the Decatur Police Department for interrogation. At the same time his 1997 red Ford Ranger pickup was impounded and processed pursuant to a search warrant, according to a police department report.
Hicks was later arrested for duty to give information and render aid, which is more commonly known as felony leaving the scene of an accident, a class C felony. He was transferred to the Morgan County Jail the same day in lieu of a $10,000 bond.
Traffic Homicide Investigator Sal Jasso and Det. Chris Jones led the initial investigation, which indicated that Rush died from injuries consistent with being struck by a moving vehicle and the driver of the vehicle failed to remain on the scene of the accident as required by law. They were joined by members of DPD's Anti-Crimes Unit on July 26 and a joint investigation led to the tentative identification of the suspect vehicle as a 1993-97 Ford Ranger pickup.
Hartselle Police arrested Rush, mother of two, for DUI just days before her death.
Rush was a member of Hartselle First United Methodist Church, where both of her children were baptized last month. She attended Sunday school class and traveled with the church on a mission trip last November to Gautier, Miss. where she helped remove sheetrock and flooring from hurricane damaged homes.
"She joined the church last November and it was her first profession of faith," Rev. Robert Sparkman said. "She tried to turn her life around."
Rev. Sparkman officiated Rush's memorial service at Hartselle First United Methodist Church July 29.