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Inset left: Ember Poe (GoFundMe). Inset right: John Winton (Shelby County Jail). Background: The area where Poe was struck by a vehicle in November 2024 (Google Maps).
An Alabama man was arrested on Wednesday for the death of a little girl who was riding her scooter when she was struck by a vehicle, according to authorities in the Yellowhammer state.
John David Winton, 45, stands accused of one count of manslaughter, Shelby County Jail records show.
Family of the victim in the case, 10-year-old Ember Alana Poe, say the man’s arrest is both welcome and a long time coming.
The fatal incident occurred just before 5:15 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2024, when Ember was riding her scooter along Spring Creek Road in Montevallo — a small college town located roughly 35 miles due south of Birmingham, according to a press release issued by the Montevallo Police Department.
The Shelby County Traffic Homicide Task Force investigated the crash. Meanwhile, Ember was cared for by staff at Children’s of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham — where she would ultimately succumb to her injuries.
“We were in the PICU for eight days,” the girl’s mother, Kelly Poe, recently wrote on social media. “On day seven, they declared brain death. I had to tell them to stop and take my baby off life support.”
The girl’s obituary remembers her fondly:
Em had a passion for arts and crafts and was very talented at drawing and animation. She loved to spend time outdoors and singing on the swings. Em was teaching herself how to speak Dutch and had a dream to own a crystal shop in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She had a love for animals, but her absolute favorites were axolotls, dragons, foxes and cats.
“You were bigger than the whole sky,” a piece of graphic art featuring the girl’s picture reads.
Winton was originally arrested for drug and paraphernalia possession in connection with the crash, according to court records obtained by AL.com. He allegedly had both cocaine and a burnt glass pipe on him at the time the child was fatally injured.
The defendant was later able to make bail on those initial charges. Then, he went back to work, the outlet reported.
Winton’s job heaped more pain on the family.
The defendant’s work-mandated proximity to Ember’s family, along with the drug-related allegations, incensed her grieving mother as the case progressed over the past weeks and months.
“He is the maintenance guy at my apartment complex,” Kelly Poe wrote earlier this week. “I have to see this man and the truck he hit her with (that still had the damage where he hit her) every f–––ing day. I’ve contacted management, and was basically told ‘he has to do his job, you can move.””
The girl’s mother also accused the defendant of driving 50 mph in a 35 mph zone when the crash occurred.
The distressed mom’s Facebook post about the management of the apartment complex and the defendant’s work was shared over 1,000 times on the social media platform. She updated the post after Winton was arrested to note the development in the case. She also implored her readers not to harass, intimidate or hurt the defendant.
A GoFundMe was established by a family friend to help Ember’s mother in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Kelly Poe says the defendant was fired the same day he was arrested, according to AL.com. Police announced securing the arrest warrant and subsequent arrest on Wednesday in a second press release.
Law enforcement did not elaborate on what details finally led to the increased charges in the case.
Law&Crime reached out to the Montevallo Police Department for additional details on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
Winton is currently being detained on $30,000 bond.
