Formal charges filed in fatal hit-and-run

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A woman who police said admitted to leaving the scene of a fatal crash has been formally charged in the case, and a not guilty plea was entered on her behalf Wednesday in court.

Morgan Mannix, 23, was arrested Saturday after a pedestrian, Alex Trabert, 23, was struck and killed early Saturday morning in the 7400 block of Shadeland Avenue.

According to court documents, investigators determined Trabert had suffered severe head trauma and had been on the ground for several hours before a passer-by discovered him and called police at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday.

Mannix was arrested after her father informed police at the scene that she had told him she struck something in the area on her way to her parents’ home, but had left the scene after investigating and finding nothing, according to the probable cause affidavit. Investigators found Trabert’s body in the grass to the west of the roadway. They also found his shoes and belongings in the grass, according to court documents.

Her car was severely damaged in the crash, and the windshield was shattered. Investigators matched debris found at the scene to her Toyota Camry, court documents said.

When an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer spoke with Mannix hours after the crash occurred, he reported smelling alcohol on her, court documents said, and she agreed to a blood test, which was done at Wishard Memorial Hospital. The probable cause affidavit said the blood drawn more than seven hours after the crash did test positive for alcohol.

Mannix told investigators she had consumed one mixed drink at dinner with her parents at about 7 p.m. Friday, then had “maybe six beers” at a friend’s home later that night, according to court documents. She then drove to her parents home in the 6500 block of Calais Circle, but on her way struck something on Shadeland Avenue. She told investigators the crash happened at about 2:30 a.m., but she went to her parents home and went to sleep, according to court documents.

When Mannix awoke at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, she told her father about what had happened, and he went to the crash scene and spoke with police, according to the probable cause affidavit. Mannix told investigators she panicked, and that it was a terrible decision to leave the scene of the crash, court documents said.

Mannix now faces a Class C felony charge of failure to stop after an accident resulting in death. She has been released on bond and a jury trial has been set for Feb. 6.