GREENSBORO — An Eden woman charged in the hit-and-run death of a bicyclist in north Greensboro will plead guilty later this month in Guilford County Superior Court, prosecutors confirmed Tuesday.
Grayson Warren Dawson, 48, of 702 Moir Mill Road will plead guilty to misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, felony hit and run, and having no operator’s license in the death of bicyclist David Sherman, according to Chris Parrish, a prosecutor with the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office.
Sherman, 55, of Summerfield was struck Oct. 24, 2009, while riding his bicycle along North Church Street just north of N.C. 150.
The Highway Patrol said a northbound SUV veered left of center and hit Sherman head-on, instantly killing him.
Two witnesses reported seeing the suspect’s vehicle, a silver Dodge Durango, make a U-turn and leave the scene.
Dawson was arrested after troopers received Crime Stoppers’ tips.
A search warrant indicated that a woman who worked at a Rockingham County gas station heard Dawson say she thought she had hit a deer after noticing damage to her vehicle, including a caved-in windshield, the day of the fatal crash.
Parrish said the guilty plea is not part of a deal with prosecutors; Dawson is pleading to all of the original charges brought against her in the fatal wreck. And she has agreed to accept whatever punishment the judge gives her in line with North Carolina’s structured sentencing guidelines, which take into account the severity of the crime as well as previous criminal record.
Court records show that Dawson has charges pending from June 2007 of failure to appear in court on charges of driving with no operator’s license, having no insurance, speeding and driving the wrong way on a two-lane road.
She pleaded guilty in July 2003 to driving without an operator’s license; she paid fines and court costs. Dawson also was charged with driving left of center but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of improper equipment.
Parrish couldn’t immediately say what sentence Dawson is facing.
Sherman was an avid musician, runner and bicyclist. He worked as a vice president with Sealy Inc. in Trinity for more than 10 years.
Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com
Not all of the newspaper's content appears online.
*There is a fee for downloading some older articles.