Driver arrested in hit-and-run that killed 64-year-old pedestrian in Cobb
A woman is in jail on felony hit-and-run charges after Cobb County police said she hit a 64-year-old pedestrian and killed him Tuesday night.
Melissa Mabry, 44, of Austell, was arrested in the death of Jasper Arnold, according to Cobb police spokeswoman Officer Sydney Melton.
Arnold was crossing Riverside Parkway near Premier Lane in Austell just after 7:45 p.m. when Mabry hit him with her white 2020 Kia Optima, Melton said.
Instead of stopping, Mabry continued down Riverside Parkway, according to police. Arnold was pronounced dead at the scene.
Melton said Mabry was identified as the driver when someone called police and reported damage to the Kia.
In addition to hit-and-run, Mabry is charged with driving with a suspended license.
The crash was the first of two fatal hit-and-runs in Cobb in a span of about seven hours.
Police responded to the second one about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday and found Christopher Makin lying in Cobb Parkway near Lake Acworth Drive. Makin, 47, of Emerson, was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
RELATED: Cobb SWAT arrests suspect after father killed in hit-and-run
Investigators tracked the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Christian Martinez, to a home in the Bay Island Cay subdivision in Acworth, Melton said. He barricaded himself inside the residence, triggering an hourslong SWAT standoff, according to police.
About the Author
Asia Simone Burns is a watchdog reporter for the AJC. Burns was formerly an intern in AJC’s newsroom and now writes about crime. She is a graduate of Samford University and has previously reported for NPR and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR member station.
