How Callous (Drunk) Was Kevin Doherty's Killer?

Cloyd Boulevard is narrow, dark, heavily traveled, and with limited sight for those who drive on it. The speed limit is set intentionally low, and the city has debated for over 30 years (since the opening of what was then Regency Square Mall) on how to close it to through traffic. Yet, it's still there, and countless vehicles travel the street daily...and nightly.

On Friday night, Kevin Allan Doherty, a 57 year-old man from Florence, was traveling west on a motorized wheelchair toward Bellview Road when he met an eastbound SUV. There are no sidewalks, and according to police reports Doherty was traveling as pedestrians are instructed to do - facing traffic. Motorized wheelchairs are slow, and Doherty probably never had the chance to move out of the way of the speeding vehicle before it hit him around nine o'clock, knocking him into one of the five properties that dot the last block of Cloyd Boulevard.

The driver never stopped. Witnesses say the small, light-colored SUV continued to Mall Road where it turned right toward Florence Boulevard. It's possible the vehicle then turned back toward the mall and Cox Creek Parkway, but it could just have easily continued to Florence Boulevard and turned either east or west toward a home base, never stopping.

The driver never stopped. We've had at least one reader suggest to us that the driver may have intentionally hit Mr. Doherty, who passed away at Huntsville Hospital. Our opinion is the driver of the SUV was impaired; it was a weekend - a time for many to relax with their drug of choice, be it alcohol or something even less socially acceptable. 

The driver never stopped. Think about that. He (or she) knew their vehicle had hit something. As large as motorized wheelchairs and scooters are, it's not like running over a fast moving small animal. There was an impact. A body went flying - yes, a very dramatic visualization, but it is what happened and it is what the driver of the light-colored SUV had to have seen.

The driver never stopped. Help Florence police catch this person. The SUV supposedly has at least moderate damage to the front end, if not worse. Someone knows something. Someone knows who Kevin Doherty's killer is. 

A killer who never stopped...

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One post accident scenario could easily happen Tuesday, Monday being a holiday. The driver of the hit-and-run vehicle will appear at the police station with an attorney. The driver, lying convincingly, will claim that the he or she didn't know what had actually happened until much later. All a tragic misunderstanding that shouldn't disrupt his or her life. By then, it's much too late to test for drugs. Even if drugs are suggested, a prescription will be produced if necessary. Friends of the driver will rally round and paint the victim as negligent, paint the driver as the actual victim. If there's a trial, the driver may exit the courthouse with only a slap on the wrist.

Yet the driver is still just as much a callous killer. Let's not forget that.

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