Editor’s note: The story below mentions mental health issues or suicide. If you need help or know someone who does, please call 988, the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available for 24/7, free and confidential support.
A 39-year-old Canton woman charged with vehicular battery related to a hit-and-run incident from New Year’s Eve pleaded not guilty at her first court appearance 9 a.m. Monday at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Canton.
Lacey Leigh Durham was arrested Dec. 31 in Canton and charged with vehicular battery, hit and run, driving under the influence, reckless driving and speeding after she hit and damaged a fence outside a home on North Bartlett Street, snapped a wooden telephone pole and left the scene on foot before police arrived.
According to officers with the Canton Police Department and their written crash report, Durham had been driving a 2018 Ford Edge SUV with a man in the passenger seat around 10 p.m. that night. Durham was reported to be driving at a “high speed,” around 65 mph, according to the passenger’s statements, when she hit the fence and the telephone pole.