Impaired driver confesses to hitting, killing woman in Lower South End

CHARLOTTE — An impaired driver confessed to hitting and killing a woman in Lower South End over the weekend, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.

On Sunday just after midnight, police were called to South Tryon Street near Clanton Road. When they arrived, officers found 24-year-old Cydnee Taylor Dutton lying in the road seriously hurt. She was taken to the hospital where she later died.

‘Came out of nowhere’

Cydnee Dutton’s parents, James Dutton and Shannon Love, said their daughter was a good person and loved by everyone.

Her parents said she was preparing to become a registered nurse working at a surgery center in Charlotte and had planned to move to the city from Pageland Monday.

“She was a sweet, fun-loving person -- silly,” James Dutton. “Laughing, singing, dancing Just a happy person. She was doing well in life.”

Cydnee Dutton and her friends had been to a Charlotte Hornets basketball game the night she was killed.

“Her best friend, Logan Duval, and some other friends … They all got across. Logan said she looked back to see if Cydnee was coming, and saw her get hit,” said her mom, Shannon Love.

“They said the car just came out of nowhere,” said Love.

“I know he didn’t mean to,” Love said. “No, he didn’t mean to do that,” interrupted Dutton. “But he got behind the wheel intoxicated. He meant to do that, so therefore, he knew better, and he can’t avoid responsibility.”

“I wish I had my girl back,” said Dutton. “The advice I have for fathers not living with their childrens’ mother is spend as much time with your kids as you can. Don’t take it for granted. Say, ‘I’ll see them next weekend.’ Even if you’re not supposed to get them -- get them, because they could be gone too soon.”

A confession

Investigators at the scene weren’t able to find the car that hit Dutton.

The driver, who hit Dutton called 911 while officers were still at the scene of the hit-and-run, to to tell them what he did. He had stopped on the side of Interstate 77 near Clanton Road when he made the call.

Officers met the driver, Michael Anthony Putnam, on the side of the interstate where his Chevy Equinox was damaged in the front.

Putnam, who investigators said was impaired, confessed to hitting Dutton. He was arrested and charged with felony death by motor vehicle.

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