CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The mother of a woman charged in the hit-and-run accident that left a bicyclist in critical condition says her daughter has a history of mental illness and needs help.
"Right at this moment she doesn't even know what she's done," said Janet Woodring after her daughter Jenna's first court appearance on Friday afternoon.
Police say Jenna Woodring was driving drunk early Thursday morning when she hit George Scott Curtis as he rode his bicycle on Brown-Grier Road. Police say Curtis had severe head injuries and was in the hospital in critical condition.
The Highway Patrol stopped Woodring on Rocky River Road as she pulled off of I-485. The trooper said she was incoherent and court papers show her blood alcohol level was .11.
Documents also reveal that she had told officers that she had smoked marijuana, drunk rum and taken medication before she drove. She told an investigator that she remembers seeing a bicyclist and knew her windshield was shattered but didn't know when it happened.
"She's been in and out of mental health facilities since she was 13," Janet Woodring said Friday about her daughter.
She said Jenna was supposed to go into a long-term care facility Thursday but obviously didn't make it.
Woodring says her first concern is for the man her daughter has allegedly injured, and she isn't making excuses for her.
"Even though she's sick she needs to be held responsible for what she's done, legally and morally," Woodring said.
WSOC
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