WILLIAMSON COUNTY -- A 17-year-old has been charged with failure to stop and render aid in connection to a February hit-and-run in which a 10-year-old boy was struck while walking home from school.
Police said Caden Walsh was walking along the 13000 block of Hymeadow Drive on Feb. 9 when he was struck, leaving him crawling with a sprained ankle and bloody leg.
Court documents state that suspect Nicole Helen Miller, 17, was interviewed on March 21 at Westwood High School by Austin Police Department detectives. Officials said she initially denied knowledge of the incident, but eventually stated she wanted to apologize to the victim and his parents after being told there was evidence linking her and her red Jeep to the location and the incident on that day.
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During questioning, detectives reported that Miller said she remembered driving her Jeep alone on Hymeadow Drive on the day of the incident and admitted to hitting something at that location. She reportedly stated she knew she hit something small but ultimately dismissed it as possibly a dog or dead animal, though police said she was concerned it may have been a child.
Court documents state that after striking the boy, Miller said she went home and called her dad and had a conversation trying to rule out the possibility of hitting a kid to minimize in her mind the chance that she hit a child. Police said she also asked her dad what the consequences of hitting someone may be.
Detectives said she never returned to confirm if she struck a person, nor did she contact any officials to report the incident. Police said she later provided a written admission of being involved in the incident.
According to police, Walsh ultimately crawled 400 yards after being struck by Miller's Jeep and received a leg wound that resulted in hospitalization and medical treatment.
Miller was arrested on March 27 and charged with failure to stop and render aid, a third-degree felony. Her bond was set at $10,000. County records indicate she was released on March 28.
