FAIRCHANCE, Pa. — A man has been charged in connection with a fatal hit-and-run in Fayette County on Wednesday.
Stephen Anthony Lemro, 74, of Morgantown, W.Va., is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, accidents involving death or personal injury, fleeing or attempting to elude an officer and related charges.
According to the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office, Lemro’s car hit Paula Silvis, 70, while she was crossing Morgantown Street in Fairchance and left without helping her. Silvis later died from her injuries.
Court records show police spotted a car that matched the suspect’s description and signaled for it to stop. The driver initially ignored officers’ commands and drove at a high rate of speed until being stopped.
When police told Lemro about how a person had been hit, he reportedly told them, “Oh, I hit a person, I thought it was a deer.”
Later, Lemro told police he was driving through the intersection of North Morgantown Street and West Church Street when he hit something. He said the light was red at the time.
Lemro reportedly continued on and did a few errands. While at a store, he saw an ambulance go by and began to have second thoughts about whether he’d hit a deer. He then started traveling toward West Virginia, hoping to get out of Fairchance.
Police say they found a broken piece of a shaker bottle in the windshield cowl of Lemro’s car. The piece matched a broken bottle found at the scene of the accident.
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