CLEARFIELD – A woman accused of striking and killing a grandmother and her granddaughter with her car will have her case added to the trial list.
Bobbi Jo Morgan, 22, of Patton, is accused of traveling off of state Route 36 (East Main Street) in Mahaffey Borough July 25, killing 63-year-old Bertha Kitchen and her 3-year-old granddaughter.
During Wednesday’s hearing at Clearfield County Centralized Court, District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. presented witnesses who stated that Morgan told them she left Discovery House methadone treatment center prior to being involved in the accident. Blood tests revealed that Morgan was using methadone and also diazepam, a drug most commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia, seizures and muscle spasms.
Methadone can be used as a treatment for addiction to herion or other morphine-like drugs.
Several people who were near the roadway on that date were called to testify Wednesday.
Among them were Lori Barnett, who was returning canning jars to her neighbor, Vicki Hullihen. Hullihen was also called as a witness. Douglas Turner, the pastor at a Mahaffey church was called, as was neighbor Steven Wilder.
Barnett said she saw a tractor-trailer pass by on SR 36, traveling north. She also noticed a blue car approaching from the south, but she said it was far enough away that she allowed her 8-year-old daughter to cross the road after the tractor-trailer passed by.
After he daughter crossed the road, she said she heard a loud “thump,” and saw the blue car hitting a section of split-rail fence. She testified that she screamed to her daughter to move out of the way just as she saw the car hitting another section of fence.
Barnett’s daughter suffered injuries from debris that flew from the fence. She was also cut by a broken canning jar.
Barnett said her daughter then continued to Hullihen’s house, while Barnett, who is trained as a first responder for accidents, went to see if the driver of the blue car was OK.
The driver, whom Barnett and Hullihen both identified as Morgan, asked Barnett if she had hit her daughter.
Barnett told Morgan she had not, stating that she did not know that the Kitchens had been hit at that time. It was at that point that Barnett said Morgan got out of the car.
Barnett testified that Morgan stated, “’Oh my God, my car. I just got this car.’”
Barnett was asked by Brian Manchester, Morgan’s attorney, whether Morgan seemed intoxicated. Barnett replied that she did not.
Hullihen also testified during Wednesday’s hearing. She said she first became aware of the accident when she heard a thump and saw a car traveling through her yard.
Almost immediately, she said, her neighbor’s daughter came through the door.
Within a few minutes, Hullihen testified that Barnett came through the door and told her to call 911 and say that two people were hit nearby.
After the call was placed, Hullihen said she left Barnett to tend to her daughter. Hullihen, also trained as a first responder, then went to see if she could help.
She said when she arrived at the scene, she saw Bertha Kitchen near a tree.
“I think she was deceased at that time, but I wanted to try to do something,” she said.
Hullihen continued to provide cardio-pulmonary resuscitation until an ambulance arrived, and she said she then went to Morgan’s car. Hullihen said she told Morgan that she would need to see her insurance information because there was a great deal of property damage and two people were killed.
Hullihen said Morgan stated, “’I just came from the methadone clinic, and I don’t know where I’m at.’”
Hullihen said Morgan appeared to be under the influence of some type of drug or alcohol. She called upon her nursing and first responder training as her ability to determine whether someone is under the influence.
“I know how people act when they’re intoxicated,” she said.
Turner said that when he arrived at the scene it was shortly after the accident happened.
He said he saw a human leg next to the road and then saw Samantha Kitchen, who was still alive. Steven Wilder, also a trained first responder, said he assisted with Samantha Kitchen and accompanied her to the hospital.
Cpl. John Burke, a collision analyst and accident reconstructionist with the state police said that at the time of the incident, Morgan was traveling south on SR 36. He testified that although his final analysis was not complete, Morgan was traveling at about 35 mph, the same, he said, as the speed limit for that section of the roadway.
Cpl. Douglas Meko, the investigating officer with the state police barracks in Mahaffey, said the speed limit at the time of the crash was 25 mph.
Burke said that while he would not classify the incident as a high-speed crash, Morgan’s vehicle “vaulted” while traveling through the Hullihen yard and a neighboring yard. Clearfield County District Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. asked Burke to clarify his statement. Burke said that all four of the vehicle’s tires came off of the ground while the vehicle was traveling through the grass.
Meko testified that when he arrived at the scene, both of the Kitchens had already been transported from the scene. Bertha Kitchen had been pronounced dead. He did not learn until arriving at the Punxsutawney Hospital that Samantha Kitchen had died.
Meko said he also spoke with Morgan at the scene. He said she might be pregnant, so she was also taken to Punxsutawney Hospital.
Meko said Morgan failed at least two field sobriety tests. She also showed signs of impairment, he said, including glassy, bloodshot eyes, slow speech, and acting sluggish.
Manchester asked whether the fact that the tests were performed about two and one-half hours after an accident in which there was a death could have played a role in Morgan’s actions.
“That would tend to throw off the accuracy of these tests, would it not?” he asked.
Morgan also agreed to submit to blood tests. In addition to the diazepam, she also tested positive for methadone. Both diazepam and methadone are listed as controlled substances.
Meko read from a lab report stating that the mere presence of these drugs in Morgan’s blood stream was not enough to say whether she was driving under the influence. The presence of these drugs would have to be combined with an assessment of factors such as possible poor judgment and impaired alertness.
According to court records, a statement Morgan gave to police claims that she attempted to avoid hitting a tractor-trailer that was partially in her lane of travel. She said she knew she started to hit things with her car and closed her eyes.
In total, Morgan faces two counts each of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter. She also faces one count each of driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, driving on roadways laned for traffic, careless driving, reckless driving and restraint systems. All of those charges were held to court following a hearing before Magisterial District Judge James Hawkins.
Morgan remains in Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail while she awaits the next step in the legal process.
