Driver accused of killing motorcyclist says she drank ‘maximum of 4 beers,’ TN cops say
A woman has been charged in the death of a motorcyclist hit earlier this year in Tennessee, police said.
Catherine Reed, 35, was arrested Sept. 25 on multiple charges, including driving under the influence of an intoxicant and vehicular homicide, according to Davidson County Circuit Clerk records shared with McClatchy News.
Officers with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department responded to a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 40 around 11:43 p.m. on May 16, according to an affidavit. Upon arrival, they found Reed performing CPR on motorcyclist Justin Fortner, police said.
Shortly after, a Nashville Fire Department medic arrived and pronounced Fortner dead on the scene, according to police.
Fortner, a husband and father of four, was described as loving and generous.
“He was always the life of the party or get together. Would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it,” one person wrote on a remembrance page.
According to prosecutors, Reed told police she hit Fortner’s motorcycle after being cut off. Video footage of the crash shows two motorcycles and Reed’s white Buick Enclave on an exit ramp at the same time.
Reed also told officers she’d been drinking alcohol at several locations but “only had a maximum of four beers” since she started at 5:30 p.m., according to records.
An Aug. 8 report for the Buick found Reed was driving more than 40 mph above the speed limit five seconds before the crash. The report determined the speeding along with her intoxication as the “proximate cause for the crash.”
“She was engaging in reckless behavior by consuming alcohol at several locations with the intent to go to new locations with the intent to consume more alcohol,” the report said.
Reed was released on bond Sept. 26 and is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 25, Davidson County Circuit Clerk officials told McClatchy News.
