Woman charged in hit-and-run where 94-year-old man died
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A 24-year-old woman faces a felony charge after investigators say she was the driver who struck a 94-year-old man in a deadly hit-and-run crash in a parking garage at The University of Kansas Cancer Center on Thursday.
The Johnson County District Attorney's Office charged Kelsi Carmack with leaving the scene of an accident. She was arrested on Thursday hours after the crash that killed William J. Ward just before 8 a.m., at the cancer center's Westwood, Kansas, campus.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Office said on Thursday that Carmack left the crash scene but was eventually found and taken in for questioning and arrested. She made her first appearance on Friday afternoon.
FOX4 was at court on Friday and spoke with Carmack’s dad, who said his daughter didn’t realize what happened and reported to work her shift at the KU Cancer Center.
He pleaded for understanding and forgiveness.
"My daughter was going to work, she never meant to hit nobody. When I talked with her on the phone, she never knew she hit anybody" Bill Carmack told FOX4.
Despite Bill and Kelsi believing this was an accident, the Johnson County District Attorney's Office charged the 24-year-old with one felony count, and the state asked for $150,000 bond, but the judge shot that down.
"She went to work – please go ask her co-workers – she never knew that she hit somebody. She loves people, that's why she became a nurse, because her mom has severe health problems," Bill Carmack said.
When asked what if anything he wanted to share with the Ward family, he answered, "I am so sorry about your loss, please forgive my daughter. She did not mean to do this. She loves being a nurse," Bill Carmack said.
While he called her a nurse in the general sense, FOX4 verified through the state of Kansas that she's actually a certified medication aide and a certified nursing assistant. We also reached out to the family of William Ward, but so far have been unable to get in contact with them.
Court records show that Kelsi Carmack posted $7,500 bond. She's due back in court on April 10.