Background: The Pilot Travel Center in Mount Sterling, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset left: Felicia Joseph (GoFundMe). Inset right: Arionne Harris (Montgomery County Sheriff”s Office).
A Kentucky man is accused of deliberately striking and killing a woman at a truck stop before fleeing the scene.
Arionne Harris, 26, faces a murder charge in connection with the death of 36-year-old Felicia Joseph, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office announced. The U.S. Marshals Service detained Harris in Kansas, and he was expected to be extradited to Kentucky to face the allegation.
Joseph was at the Pilot Travel Center in Mount Sterling on Sept. 29. The truck stop is located roughly 35 miles east of Lexington.
Authorities said Harris was also at the location and allegedly struck Joseph with his vehicle in the truck stop’s rear parking lot before driving away. Joseph’s family told regional NBC affiliate WLEX they did not believe the collision was accidental, describing it instead as a “targeted attack.”
Investigators have disclosed limited information about the case as they continue gathering evidence. The sheriff’s office said deputies were sent to the Pilot truck stop after a 911 hang-up call connected to a welfare check.
CONTINUE READING: Texas AG Ken Paxton Rips Iran War in New Audio Leak: ‘Pinch’
The incident started in the rear parking lot and continued onto a nearby roadway, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators “quickly” identified Harris as a suspect through “forensic and digital evidence,” officials said.
Harris was also wanted at the time on a “full-extradition warrant out of Texas for failure to comply with the sex offender registry,” authorities said.
In a statement shared by the local outlet, Joseph’s mother said the family would “aren’t going to discuss the circumstances of her death while the investigation is ongoing,” but added that she “want[s] people to remember is Felicia. She was bold. She was loving. She was a fighter. She was a mother. And she was deeply loved.”
According to the victim’s obituary, Joseph was the mother of an 18-year-old child and 3-year-old twins.
“Felicia enjoyed tattoos, cooking, and spending time with the people she loved. She had a tenacity about her — a determination to keep moving forward even when life was difficult. She fought, she persevered, and she kept going,” the obituary states. “Her life was taken far too soon. There are no words that can adequately express the loss of a daughter, sister, mother, and loved one. What remains is the love she gave, the memories she created, and the mark she left on the people fortunate enough to know her.”