Designated drivers are always good to have when a night of drinking is planned. Whether the driver is a family member, a friend, or someone from a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft or a simple taxi, they can prevent people from getting behind the wheel intoxicated. The Pilot reports on a man who was his wife’s designated driver, but he was killed by another drunk driver.
When Natalie Dill decided to spend her 27th birthday out drinking with friends, her husband, Daniel Dill offered to pick the group up so that they didn’t have to worry about driving home.
At about 2 a.m. Saturday, while on his way to pick up his wife and her friends, a woman in a 2011 Cadillac struck Dill’s 2009 Mazda head-on. Dill had been heading eastbound on Interstate 264. The driver of the Cadillac was traveling the wrong way on the interstate.
Immediately following the accident, Melissa Ann Hancock, 25, who was driving the Cadillac, was arrest on charges of DUI maiming. Hancock had been featured on the reality show Little Women: Atlanta admitted to a state trooper that she had consumed two to four mixed drinks about an hour before the crash. Her blood-alcohol content was 0.112 two hours later.
Hancock is four feet tall and weighs 77 pounds.
Just after midnight on Sunday, Dill succumbed to the injuries received in the accident. He was suffering from a severe spinal cord injury, major brain swelling, along with internal injuries and broken bones. The family decided to withdraw care once the doctor told them of Dill’s prognosis.
The charges against Hancock may be upgraded following Dill’s death. She was granted a bond of $15,000 and was ordered to wear a GPS device that monitors alcohol abuse.
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