Man Who Stopped Wife From Driving Drunk Charged With Manslaughter After She Died Walking Home
An Alabama man was arrested and charged with manslaughter after his wife was fatally hit by a motorist while walking home drunk.
Jason Todd, 42, allegedly refused to let his wife, Tanya Anderson, get behind the wheel of her car while under the influence.
According to Alabama Local News, Todd and Anderson had been at Friends Steakhouse in Clanton, Alabama, where Toddâs band was playing their final set back in summer 2018.
Anderson had gotten drunk, demanding to drive herself home but Todd refused, telling her that heâd drive her home himself after he paid his tab.
Anderson reportedly refused and threatened to leave, at which point Todd told her to âwalk home,â believing that she wouldnât.
Anderson was tragically hit by a vehicle after her husband prevented her from drunk-driving.
According to court records and police reports, Anderson began walking home, although she did not make it very far before being fatally struck by an oncoming vehicle.
âI loved my wife,â Todd told police. âStill do, and always will.â
Alabama police insisted that he had thrown Andersonâs car keys out onto the road following their argument at the steakhouse, using the alleged incident as evidence for a manslaughter charge.
Todd has now filed a lawsuit against Officer David Hicks from the Clanton Police Department over the handling of the investigation into his wife's death.
He has also filed a lawsuit against the restaurant for continuously serving his wife alcohol after she was visibly intoxicated, as well as the driver, Carey Roger Glenn, who fatally hit Anderson.
According to Alabama Local News, Glenn, who is blind in one eye, came into the restaurant the day after the hit-and-run, telling people he thought he hit a deer the night before.
Alaska police initially determined that Glenn, 66, had hit a deer, and did not take any samples from his car.
It wasnât until months after the accident that the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences confirmed that Andersonâs blood and hair were on Glennâs car.
In Toddâs lawsuit, it states that surveillance footage from the steakhouse parking lot shows both him and Anderson searching for an item in the car.
Todd claims that at no point did he throw his wifeâs keys anywhere on the ground, forcing her to walk home alone.
Andersonâs keys were later found a distance away from the restaurant where Todd says he last saw his wife alive.
Toddâs suit also says investigators at the Clanton Police Department âcontinuously berated and screamedâ at him, âtrying to guilt him into confessing to something he didnât do.â while interrogating him.
It also included authorities forcing Todd to look at the photos taken at his wifeâs crash site.
Officer David Hicks is also being accused of âlacking [a] probable causeâ when charging Todd with manslaughter and is facing charges of malicious prosecution.
Todd believed that he had been initially called in for an interrogation to help identify the driver who had hit and killed his wife, but quickly learned that he was actually the main suspect in the investigation.
âWeâre telling you what happened. You got mad and threw those keys,â an investigator told Todd during the interrogation. âThe weight of those keys being thrown is sitting on your shoulders. Thatâs why you canât sleep at night. Itâs eating you alive.â
Hicks is also denying that he violated any of Toddâs constitutional rights, stating that the evidence he had for suspecting Todd of manslaughter âwas taken with good faith.â
Hicks had also written off Glennâs crime in his investigative report, saying, âRoger Glenn did not comprehend nor realize what had happened, therefore his crime was not a deliberate action on his part.â
A judge has since rejected Toddâs indictment back in June 2020 for lack of evidence, and a jury selection for the trial of David Hicks is reported to start in February 2023.
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Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.
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