A young woman is facing charges for a hit-and-run accident that killed a man.
It happened on 74th Street and Shadeland Avenue Saturday morning. A driver called police after seeing Alex Trabert lying on the ground in a grassy area. The impact of this crash was so strong, his shoes had come off.
Carla says she's coping knowing her son is no longer in pain.
"Not being with family [on the holidays] was very hard for him," says Carla Travert, Alex’s mom, who spoke with Fox59 on the phone from Columbia City, Ind. "We're still processing. It's kind of surreal."
It's been a tough few months for Alex Trabert. The 23-year-old was far away from home trying to overcome his battle with addiction. His family drove to Indianapolis to help him move into a half-way house Saturday. They found out he disappeared when they got into town.
"He was not there and they said he had left the night before," says Carla. "We have no idea why he was walking down the street."
Police say a driver had hit Alex and then drove off just three hours before. 23-year-old Morgan Mannix was arrested at her home later that day.
Despite what happened, Carla says she has no anger towards the driver.
"I'm praying for her too because I can't even imagine what she's going through herself," she says. "I believe that [she] had to have been so scared to have walked away from it. From little we have heard, there was no way you could have possibly not known that you have hit somebody."
Instead, Carla hopes to honor Alex’s life. She describes her son as a caring man with an infectious smile. Alex also aspired to be a professional BMX bike rider.
"He would always get me laughing. He always had a way of getting me to laugh when I needed to laugh. [He] was the first one out of my boys who was ready with a hug, ready with a smile," she says. "The hardest part's going to be every night around 8:30, 9 o'clock because that was our daily routine. He would call me or I would call him and we would talk about our day."
Mannix was arrested for leaving the scene of a deadly accident. She was taken to Wishard Hospital for a blood draw. She could be facing additional charges.
Trabert's family is working on funeral arrangements to have Alex buried in Columbia City.
