Man sentenced in fatal Boiling Springs hit-and-run
A man who police say hit and killed a woman with his car in Boiling Springs last year and then left the scene has been sentenced.
James Wesley Harris, 32, of Blacksburg, South Carolina, accepted a plea offer last week in the fatal hit and run of Dorothy "Dot" Hyde.
Harris was charged and pleaded guilty to felony hit and run causing serious bodily injury or death. According to the Cleveland County clerk's office, he was sentenced to 13 to 25 months in prison.
Last year, on the evening of Jan. 20, Hyde, 74, was walking back from the Bulldog Quik-Snak in Boiling Springs to retrieve her car parked at a nearby pharmacy after dining out with friends and family. She was struck and killed near the intersection of North Main Street and Woodland Avenue. and police said the driver didn’t stop.
Around six months later, on July 10, 2023, police had enough evidence to issue a warrant for the arrest of Harris.
Nathan Phillips, Boiling Springs Police chief, previously told The Star law enforcement utilized cell phone data, search warrants and partnered with other agencies to track down information that has led to the warrants.
“He admitted it to a third party and that information came to us through the Shelby Police Department,” Phillips said.
Phillips also said the department was able to locate Harris' car about a month prior to his arrest after it had been purchased by a towing company.
Hyde's granddaughter, Shelby Crump, worked tirelessly to keep her grandmother's case in the spotlight and tracked down information that would help lead to an arrest. She had posted details about the hit and run on Facebook and encouraged people to share, perused Facebook Marketplace for cars that matched the description of the vehicle and kept in frequent contact with police.
Crump said her grandmother was a loving, Christian woman who enjoyed spending time with Crump’s three children.
“She was my best friend since I was born,” she said.
She said Dot was in good health and had been robbed of many years of her life with her family.
Attempts to reach the family for comment on Harris' sentence were unsuccessful.
Reach Reporter Rebecca Sitzes at rsitzes@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Man sentenced in fatal Boiling Springs hit-and-run
