Firefighter, relatives killed in hit-run accident; driver jailed
copyright Commercial Appeal, Three people whose work lives included caring for the victims of drunk drivers were killed in a hit-and-run accident at a Covington intersection Friday night, law enforcement officials said. The other driver was caught and charged with DUI. Killed were Memphis firefighter Pvt. Charles K. Gardner, his wife, Lisa Gardner, a nurse, and her mother, Margaret Sanders, also a nurse. Sanders's husband, John Wesley Sanders, also in the crash, was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis in critical condition. He was in fair condition Saturday night. According to Covington police investigator Jim King, the two couples were on separate motorcycles that were stopped in a turning lane at U.S. 51 and Bert Johnston Avenue shortly after 6 p.m. That's when a car driven by Barbara Bryant, 38, 245 Gillespie St., plowed into the motorcycles from behind, King said. She fled the scene, going north in the south lane of U.S. 51, before striking another vehicle, according to police. Officers arrested her at the scene of the second collision and charged her with three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of DUI. No information was available on the occupants of the second vehicle. The Covington Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol are investigating. Bryant was being held Saturday night in the Tipton County Jail. Police did not say where she had been before the crash. The Gardners and Sanderses were on their way to a barbecue festival, according to friends and family. Samantha Gill, 23, the oldest of the Gardners' four children, said her parents and grandparents loved riding motorcycles. "They're all grandparents," she said. "And they're all out driving motorcycles. That's just them." Charles 'Kerry' Gardner, 40, was an 18-year fire department veteran who was assigned to Station 31 on Overton Crossing, the same station as Pvt. Charles Zachary, one of two Memphis firefighters who were killed while fighting an arson fire in June. Lisa Gardner, 42, was a nurse at Methodist Healthcare-Germantown. Her mother, 58, was a nurse at The Med. John Sanders owns a construction company in Munford. Gill said her parents lived at 3538 Morning Dew in Bartlett with her sisters Stephanie Sanders, 17, and Anna Gardner, 13, and brother Charles Gardner Jr., 11. Gill is 11 weeks pregnant with her second child. "My mom went with me last week to the ultrasound," she said. "She was so excited." Gill has an 8-month-old daughter, Hatti, who was her grandmother's pride and joy. "She kept a framed picture of her ultrasound on a stand in her bedroom. And she was so excited to add another ultrasound next to Hatti's." Her grandparents shared a home at 1575 Beaver Road in Brighton. Gill said her grandmother was planning to retire next month. Rosa Carter said her friend Lisa Gardner was a high-spirited woman. "She was a lot of fun to be around," she said. "She was outspoken and honest. Which made you love her because she was very real." Carter's husband, Kenneth, said Charles Gardner was a best friend, and a brother to him. The Carters, of Louisville, have family in Memphis but stayed with the Gardners when they came to visit. "We were just that tight with them," Kenneth Carter said. "They were incredible. "Kerry was a firefighter, but he was like a big teddy bear," he said. "He would love you to death." The couple liked to have fun, he said, and always tried to make the best of everything. Their energy was contagious. "Kerry was the biggest Minnesota Vikings fan," his friend said. "He loved the Vikings. He loved them so much, he would make you a fan." The Gardners were public servants, said the couple's minister and close friend Kevin Herman. They attended The Memphis Church on Appling Road in Cordova. "How many times did they take care of a person hit by a drunk driver?" Herman said. "And now they're the victims of something they spent their whole lives working with."
MEMPHIS AREA DEATHS CHARLES KERRY GARDNER, 40, and LISA GALE SANDERS GARDNER, 42, both of Bartlett, died Friday at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Tipton in Covington. Services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Munford Funeral Home with burial in Helen Crigger Cemetery. Mr. Gardner, a firefighter, was a member of the Memphis International Church of Christ and the International Association of Fire Fighters. Mrs. Gardner, a registered nurse for Methodist Healthcare-Germantown, was a member of the International Church of Christ. They leave three daughters, Samatha Gill of Atoka, and Stephanie Gardner and Anna Gardner, both of Bartlett; a son, Charles Gardner Jr. of Bartlett, and a grandchild. Mrs. Gardner also leaves her father, John W. Sanders of Munford, and two brothers, Jason Sanders of Drummonds and John W. Sanders Jr. of Munford. They Will be Missed dearly. The Memphis Church
Deadly Roads - Hit and Run Crash
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