Pedestrian dies after drunk driver incident

Oct. 22 - This story has been updated with additional information

Ruston’s second pedestrian accident in four days has claimed the life of a Sterlington man and injured another person.

Jackson Mitcham, 21, of Sterlington, died after being hit by a drunk driver on the south I-20 service road early Saturday morning. Mitcham’s companion, 20-year-old Hahn Bridges, of Monroe, was treated and released from Northern Louisiana Medical Center, Ruston police said Monday.

The driver of the vehicle that hit the two men, 20-year-old Abby Sterling, of Shreveport, was charged with two counts of first-degree negligent injury.

Both the victims and driver were believed to have been coming from The Revelry, a popular bar on the service road, not far from where the accident happened, Ruston Police Deputy Chief Henry Wood said.

Police found the victims lying on the north shoulder of the road and Sterling’s silver Nissan Altima stopped in the left-hand lane. The vehicle had major damage to the front end and windshield, authorities said.

Sterling, a Louisiana Tech University student, reportedly told police she was driving east on the service road, and Mitcham and Bridges were standing in the middle of the road. She said she tried to stop but didn’t have enough room to avoid hitting them.

Mitcham was initially taken to Northern Louisiana Medical Center then airlifted to a Shreveport hospital where he died from his injuries, police said.

According to Sterling’s arrest affidavit, her blood alcohol content was more than twice the limit considered intoxicated under Louisiana law.

Sterling was booked into the Lincoln Parish Detention Center on $50,000 bond.

Saturday’s incident was the second pedestrian fatality in Ruston in four days. On Wednesday, 41-year-old Luis Alberto Esparza Rios of New Orleans, died when he was struck by multiple vehicles as he tried to cross a busy stretch of Cooktown Road.