A Hattiesburg man has been arrested and charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident causing death and dismemberment after a Saturday hit-an-run incident that left a juvenile girl dead and another woman injured.
Ryan Moore, public information officer with the Hattiesburg Police Department, said 27-year-old James McGowan turned himself in to police after an intensive investigation.
McGowan was charged in the incident that occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday at the intersection of J.M. Tatum Industrial Drive and Barnes Avenue. When officers arrived at the scene, they found 11-year-old Leighton Aniqua Hill - a fifth-grader at Earl Travillion Attendance Center - dead, along with a deceased adult female who was determined to be her mother.
The mother was transported by ambulance to a local hosptial, but Hill was pronounced dead at the scene. McGowan did not stop after hitting the pedestrians.
McGowan was booked into the Forrest County Jail, and the incident is still under investigation. Anyone with information regarding the situation is asked to call the Hattiesburg Police Department at (601) 544-7900 or Metro Crime Stoppers at (601) 582-7867.
