A Summit woman who was in the process of moving to start a new job as a nurse was killed in a hit-and-run accident early Saturday morning in Grand Bay, Ala., leading to a manhunt and eventual capture of a suspected burglar accused of causing the wreck.
Abigail "Abby" Pickard, 24, died when the 2005 Mazda Tribute in which she was a passenger was struck from behind by a 2013 Lexus GS350 driven by Wyatt L. Newburn, 26, of Citronelle, Ala., WALA-TV reported. The crash occurred west of Mobile, about three miles from the Mississippi state line. Vong K. Chau, 27, of Tampa, Fla., was driving the Mazda.
“There was unfortunately a traffic fatality this morning on I-10 in Grand Bay and through the investigation determined that Newburn was involved in the wreck, fled the scene and left a person to die in the other vehicle. In his flight, he stole another vehicle,” Mobile County Sheriff’s Capt. Paul told WALA.
Sheriff’s officials said Newburn took a heavily damaged 2008 silver Chevrolet that authorities found in a casino parking lot in Biloxi, where they arrested him without incident.
“The vehicle that he was in had multiple weapons in it when it was stolen and it seems like they’re still in the vehicle, so we’ve recovered those weapons as well,” Burch said.
Pickard’s mother, Melanie Pickard, posted on Facebook that Pickard was going to be a Registered Nurse at North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond, La.
“She was on her way home to begin her new life,” she wrote.
Officials with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said Newburn was accused in the burglary of two houses in Semmes, Ala., last Tuesday.
Burch said the sheriff’s Special Operations Unit went to Semmes in search of the intruder last week but was unable to find him.
“The suspect was later identified as Wyatt Newburn. There were several videos passed around that showed him going on to the properties,” Burch said.
Biloxi police have charged Newburn with several felony charges, and sheriff’s officials in Mobile plan to extradite him, a process they said could take weeks.
