Driver accused in hit-and-run that killed young mother turns himself in

LENOIR, N.C. — Police said the driver accused in a fatal hit-and-run Monday night in Lenoir is in custody.

Kenneth Davis, 36, turned himself in at the magistrate's office Wednesday afternoon.

The magistrate said Davis didn't say a word when he turned himself in, and that someone who was with him said he was wanted by police.

As he was getting out of a patrol car, Davis spoke to Channel 9's Dave Faherty.

"Did you run the red light?" Faherty asked.

"I don't remember," Davis said.

"What do you have to say to the family tonight?" Faherty asked.

"Sorry," Davis replied.

"Were you responsible for this, you think? Do you remember it? Were you under the influence?" Faherty asked.

"No," Davis said.

Davis was taken to police headquarters where he was being questioned by investigators.

The deadly crash happened just before 7 p.m. Monday at the intersection of Fairview Drive and Harper Avenue.

Family members of 25-year-old Marriah Warren told Channel 9's Dave Faherty that she was coming home from the store when someone ran a red light, hitting her in the driver's side door.

Warren was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but later died. She was the mother of a 3-year-old girl.

Police identified the other driver as Davis. Officials said he ran away from the scene after crashing into Warren's car.

Witnesses told police that after the crash, Davis got out of his car, looked around and left.

"To me he is a coward. Honestly, he's a coward because he should have stayed there and paid for the crime that he committed," Warren's aunt Cindy Coffin said.

(Kenneth Davis)

A passenger who was riding with Davis was also injured in the crash, but he is expected to be OK.

He will face charges related to an arrest warrant for felony hit-and-run resulting in serious injury or death.

Channel 9 spoke with Warren's family and friends, who said they had a message for Davis.

"She has a daughter," Coffin said. "It's not fair. I mean it's not. If you have a heart at all, just please man up -- pay for what you did."

Bradley Bumgarner had been with Warren for the past eight years, and the two had a daughter together.

"She finally come to terms that momma wasn't coming home, and she cried for quite a while," Bumgarner said. "I couldn't do nothing about it except hold her and cry myself."

Warren's family and friends said they left flowers and balloons at the crash site in honor of her.

"You left a child without a mother, a daughter everything," Warren's friend Carrisa Lochbaum said. "Why would you run off? That has to be on your conscience."

Before Davis turned himself in, the Lenoir Police Department said there was a $1,000 reward being offered for information that could lead to his arrest.

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