Driver of van that struck, killed teen Brittany Hare detained for mental evaluation
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Brittany Hare
Photographer: Courtesy Scripps Treasure Coast Newspaper
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 06/19/2012
FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- The man behind the wheel of a van that struck and killed a St. Lucie County teenager Sunday night has been detained under the Baker Act, also known as the Florida Mental Health Act, in which a person is temporarily detained for mental evaluation and treatment.
Jesse McInerney was involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation after apparently attempting to kill himself Monday, authorities said.
Fourteen-year-old Brittany Hare, who had just finished the eighth grade, was walking down Palm Drive shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday when she was hit from behind by a van that was riding in the wrong lane.
"You heard a little tire screeching, swerving...then it sounded like a shotgun went off," said David Lewis, who was just five feet away from Hare as she walked down the street while talking on her phone.
The Indian River Estates neighborhood has no streetlights, and no sidewalks.
"He hit her so hard she flew from my house to three houses down," added Lewis.
For most of Monday, investigators had a section of Palm Drive closed off so they could conduct measurements and try to determine how fast the van driver was going.
Authorities marked the part of the street where Brittany's left shoe was found. Twenty feet away, a marking shows where he right shoe was found.
Charges are pending in the case. Deputies have said McInerney was speeding at the time but have yet to release how fast he was traveling.
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Facebook page for memorial event for Brittany Hare:
https://m.facebook.com/RipBrittanyMarleneHare?id=332063853538284&_rdr#!/events/353615004670753?__user=80506702
bitly link: http://bit.ly/McKPe0
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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