LENOIR, N.C. — The driver who was accused of hitting and killing a 25-year-old in Lenoir is in custody, police told WCNC Charlotte in an update late Wednesday afternoon.
Marriah Kelly Warren was driving a 1999 Honda Accord south on Fairview Drive Monday when her car collided with a 2012 Ford Taurus, being driven west on Harper Avenue by 36-year-old Kenneth Avery Davis, police said.
Authorities believed Davis had been taken into custody on Tuesday in Burke County. However, the man arrested turned out not to be Davis, and the search for him resumed, officials told WCNC Charlotte's Brandon Goldner.
The Lenoir/Caldwell County Crimestoppers Board offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Davis. There was no immediate word on whether that reward had been claimed.
After the crash, Warren was transported to Caldwell UNC Healthcare, where police said she later died. Davis ran away from the scene before emergency crews arrived, police said.
A passenger in Davis' car, James Andrew Powell, was also transported to Caldwell UNC Healthcare, where he was treated and released with minor injuries.
A warrant was obtained for felony hit-and-run resulting in the death of Warren.
Warren's fiancee, Bradley Bumgarner, described her as an outgoing and generous person.
"A good family person," he said. "Just a good southern girl, like every man would dream of."
As investigators tried to find Davis, Bumgarner said he and his fiancee's 3-year-old daughter were left searching for answers to process their grief.
"I'm just more [or] less lost," he said. "I'm a single father now, and I keep waiting for Marriah to come home, and she's not."
Anyone with additional information about this crash is asked to contact the Lenoir Police Department at 828-757-2100 or Crimestoppers at 828-758-8300.
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