Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash filed three felony charges against a local man accused in the hit-and-run death of a bicyclist.
A Level 4 felony charge of causing death when operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, a Level 6 felony unlawful possession of a syringe and a Level 3 felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident were filed Wednesday in Bartholomew Circuit Court against Eric M. Winship, 27, of 3885 Rosewood Court, court documents stated.
Columbus police arrested Winship Tuesday at a residence in northern Bartholomew County, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Winship is accused of driving a red GMC Jimmy that struck and killed bicyclist Kyla Ortlieb, 21, Columbus, at 11th and Chestnut streets at 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Harris said. Ortlieb’s obituary lists her as a North Vernon resident. Ortlieb competed in volleyball and track while in school in Jennings County.
Winship was being held at the Bartholomew County Jail on a 48-hour hold, with bond initially set at $132,000 bond, jail officials said.
Columbus police were sent to the scene of the accident where they found a woman lying in the road covered in blood, surrounded by bystanders, the probable cause affidavits stated. Ambulance personnel confirmed the woman did not have a pulse and she was then identified as Ortlieb.
A witness told police she was driving west on 11th Street when she stopped at Chestnut and saw a woman riding a bicycle west along 11th Street on the sidewalk, the affidavit stated. The bicyclist cut over in front of the witness’ car and traveled south across 11th Street on the east side of Chestnut, the affidavit stated.
The bicyclist was about halfway through the intersection when an older model SUV ran the stop sign and struck the woman on the bicycle, the affidavit stated. The witness said the SUV was going at least 40 mph.
Another witness told police she was smoking on her front porch in the 900 block of 11th Street and saw the woman on the bicycle, and also saw a red GMC Jimmy strike her, the affidavit stated. She said the woman landed on top of the hood of the vehicle, causing the vehicle to brake, but when the woman fell off the vehicle, it ran over her and drove away, the affidavit stated.
Police located a red GMC Jimmy near 12th and Union streets, and shoes on the sidewalk west of it, but no one around it, the affidavits states. The shoes had broken glass inside of them and blood spatter was found on the interior and exterior of the vehicle, the affidavit stated. The vehicle was still running, with the lights on and the keys in it, according to the affidavit. When police ran the license plate, they determined the registered owner was Sandra Winship, mother of Eric Winship, the affidavit stated.
In an interview with Sandra Winship, she confirmed that Eric Winship had been staying with her, and on Friday had left with the Jimmy, and returned at around 10:30 a.m. Monday on foot, limping, the affidavit states.
“When she asked Eric what had happened, he replied, ‘To tell you the truth, I don’t know.’ He told her that he didn’t know where the Jimmy was. He told her that he had been ‘so tore up’ the night before, that he couldn’t remember anything. She took that to mean that he had ‘blacked out’ from drugs,” the affidavit states.
Winship’s mother told police that Eric had long struggled with addiction and she had planned to take him directly to a drug treatment facility, the affidavit stated. On their way to his grandmother’s home, Eric Winship learned through social media that someone had been killed by a hit-and-run driver driving a red GMC Jimmy, according to the affidavit.
Eric Winship began to weep and told his mother, “I think I hit somebody,” and “Now I’ve got to get right with God.”
Officers found him at that home and the grandmother told them Eric Winship was in the bathroom, the affidavit stated. After numerous delays, the officers forcibly entered the bathroom where they found him attempting to inject methamphetamine, the affidavit stated.
In an interview with police, Eric Winship said initially he knew he hit something and he ran, the affidavits stated.
“I didn’t think I had hit a person per se. Clearly I knew it was a possibility, but…” he told police, according to the affidavit.
Later in the interview, Eric Winship admitted driving the SUV and said, “Yeah, I hit this young, 21-year-old woman with my car … and smoked her at a high rate of speed, clearly which killed her,” the probable cause affidavit stated.
He told police he then ran, hid and fell asleep.
