A driver faces a charge of careless driving after a fatal collision with a pedestrian Sept. 23 on East Main Street at Sligo Street, according to the Cortez Police Department.
Lt. Andy Brock said the woman, Scotti Bagwell, was taken to Southwest Memorial Hospital, then flown to Denver for a higher level of care.
She died Wednesday at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, according to her obituary.
Bagwell was hit in a crosswalk by a vehicle turning left onto East Main Street at 9:24 a.m., Brock said. Neither the driver nor the pedestrian was impaired by alcohol or drugs, he said.
After Bagwell, 50, was struck by the vehicle, her body traveled about 28 feet east of the area of impact to her point of rest, according to the report.
The driver, Brient Phillips, 20, stated he did not see Bagwell step into the crosswalk, and he was unable to stop in time, according to the police incident report. The traffic signal was flashing a yellow turn signal, and Bagwell was walking in a clearly marked crosswalk.
“Phillips was crying and asked several more times if Ms. Bagwell was going to be okay,” according to the incident report. He requested notification of her condition at the hospital.
He faces charges of careless driving resulting in death, a misdemeanor case, according to the 22nd Judicial District Attorney Will Furse.
His arraignment was Sept. 28. His next court date is set for Oct. 28.
The collision occurred a week after another pedestrian was killed by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 160/491 just south of Cortez.
Brock said other recent pedestrian deaths occurred at night and involved pedestrians in dark clothing. The incident Sept. 23 happened in daylight while a driver made a left turn through a crosswalk.
“There’s not much we can do about that,” Brock said. “It’s not a speed issue.”
Rayola Bagwell, Scotti Bagwell’s mother, reported her missing at 8:37 a.m., about an hour before the collision. According to the police report, Scotti Bagwell had a mental disability. Her mother stated she “does not see all that well and can become disoriented easily.”
“Police dropped what they were doing and went looking for her,” Brock said.
Three officers were in the area when the woman was struck, and they responded quickly. Officer Shane Fletcher applied medical aid to Bagwell until medical personnel arrived on the scene.
According to the police report, the police department “has on numerous occasions contacted Scotti when she had left her home and given her a courtesy ride back to her residence.”
Rayola Bagwell said her daughter had “somehow opened her brother’s door, entered the basement area of the home and then left out a window,” the report says.
ehayes@the-journal.com
