Rock Springs, Ga. Woman Arrested In Traffic Death Of Man, 55, On Shallowford Road; Says She Thought She Had Hit A Deer

  • Thursday, September 29, 2022

The Chattanooga Police Traffic Division, through investigation, identified the driver of the vehicle that fatally struck a pedestrian last Saturday in the 5900 Block of Shallowford Road.

The driver, Sarah Annette Barrett, 49, of Rock Spring, Ga., turned herself into Silverdale Detention Center on warrants obtained by investigators.

The victim was 55-year-old Paul Thompson.

Ms. Barrett's attorney, McCracken Poston, said she thought she had hit a deer and was "devastated" to find out that a man had been killed. 

He said it happened in her lane on a very remote and unlit part of Shallowford Road near Vulcan Materials. He said, "Many questions remain about the man and why he stepped or leapt into her path on the darkened roadway."

Attorney Poston said Ms. Barrett contacted Chattanooga Police the same day of the incident after being told by her husband that a man had been killed on Shallowford Road. 

Chattanooga Police had responded to a call of a pedestrian struck.
 
Police were notified of a man lying unconscious on the side of the road. Upon arrival, EMS pronounced the man deceased.
 
After further investigation, police found items belonging to the deceased and vehicle parts and concluded that the pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle.
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