Virgil Armstrong
"Lil Virgil"

October 19, 2005

Woman charged in hit-and-run

By Crystal Bonvillian
Montgomery Advertiser

MONTGOMERY -- Virgil Armstrong wept Tuesday afternoon in the arms of friends and neighbors in his front yard, just a few feet from the spot where his 2-year-old son was killed.

Virgil "Lil' Virgil" Armstrong was struck by a vehicle Monday night as he rode his plastic tricycle in front of his home at 18 Oak Forest Drive. The driver, identified by police as Kristie Sims, 31, of 426 Forest Park Drive, then fled the scene.

Sims was arrested late Monday night and charged with reckless murder and leaving the scene of an accident. She was released from the Montgomery County jail on $60,000 bond Tuesday.

Lt. Huey Thornton, a Montgomery police spokesman, said Sims was charged with murder because she was intoxicated at the time of the 9:12 p.m. crash.

Thornton declined to say how intoxicated Sims was, but Armstrong said information he got from police indicated a high blood alcohol content.

"She was messed up," Armstrong said. "How can you miss seeing two adults, a dog and a kid?"

Armstrong, his son and a family friend, Erin Shoemake, were beginning a walk around the block with the boy's puppy when the crash occurred. Shoemake said the group had just gotten to the end of Armstrong's driveway when they heard Sims' car speeding down the street.

Armstrong stepped forward and held up his hands in an attempt to slow the car down. Both he and Shoemake claim Sims accelerated instead.

"You could hear the engine rev up," Shoemake said, weeping. "She plowed into him like he was nothing."

According to police, Sims allegedly struck the toddler when she swerved to avoid hitting Armstrong. She did not stop afterward.

"She barely tapped the brakes," Shoemake said. "Then she took ... off down the side street like nothing happened."

The toddler, who suffered extensive head injuries, was pronounced dead at Jackson Hospital.

Armstrong and his neighbors were trying Tuesday to deal with their loss. The single father described his son as a "great kid."

"He was very intelligent," Armstrong said. "You'd talk to him and think he was four or five."

A smile briefly crossed Armstrong's face as he recalled his son's love of talking on the phone.

"He had his own cell phone," he said. "It worked, but it didn't have service. He just loved the way it lit up."

Neighbor Vickki Webb said she wasn't sure how life would go on without the little boy, who spent a lot of time at her house when his father was working.

"When I got home, that baby's face was always the first thing I'd see," Webb said in a shaky voice. "I loved spending time with him."