Days before arrest, suspect in fatal Hampton Co. hit and run visited the child’s family
As Latrell Davis prayed and pleaded for the driver who plowed into her 4-year-old son and his dog to turn themselves in to police, she unknowingly welcomed the suspect into her home.
Davis is happy to hear police have made an arrest in Saturday’s hit-and-run incident, but she was shocked and sad to learn that she knew the person who has been charged with her son’s death, she told The Island Packet on Friday.
Jennifer Nicole Miller, 30, of Hampton, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of hit-and-run accident resulting in death, a felony, and one county of hit-and-run accident resulting in injury, a misdemeanor.
“We have some clarity now, and we have a little bit of closure,” Davis said. “My family has been there for me, and we’re going to be all right.”
Miller is accused of striking 4-year-old Ja’Karie Breland, his puppy, Sugar, and his uncle with her vehicle while they were walking on Palmetto Avenue and driving off, Varnville Police Chief Tyrone Smith said. The hit and run occurred around 5:45 p.m. Saturday.
Ja’Karie died early Sunday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. His uncle had minor injuries.
In the days after the incident, Ja’Karie’s mother said she received an “overwhelming” amount of support from the local community and afar. Some friends and family, including Miller, visited her at her home in Varnville.
“It hurts because my baby is gone, and what hurts even more is that I knew her, and she came to my house,” Davis said.
Davis said she and Miller previously worked together at a grocery store, and Ja’Karie had been places with Miller.
In the days after the hit and run, local and state law enforcement agencies conducted interviews, reviewed surveillance footage from area gas stations, and identified Miller as a suspect, Chief Smith said.
On Wednesday, the Varnville Police Department pulled Miller over for a traffic stop and discovered she was driving with a suspended license. They towed her vehicle, and the S.C. Law Enforcement Division collected evidence that led to police obtaining the two warrants for Miller’s arrest.
During a police interview, Miller had “denied hitting the child,” Smith said Friday.
“I love Ja’Karie, but God loved him best,” Davis said. “He gave me four years, and those were the best four years. I’ll never take them for granted, and I’m so happy that justice was served for my son.”
A graveside funeral for Ja’Karie is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Antioch Christian Church on Mill Pond Road in Varnville. All are welcome to attend.
