CINCINNATI -- Police have indicted a man with aggravated vehicular homicide, among other charges, in a crash that killed a runner in Mount Auburn in December.
Police said 24-year-old Thomas Cavez Stidhum fatally struck runner Cathy Chatfield, 57, with a vehicle on a sidewalk along Dorchester Avenue on Dec. 6. She was participating in the annual 13.2-mile Seven Hills Run/Walk, according to court documents.
Cathy Chatfield
Documents indicated Stidhum was driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Emergency crews took Chatfield to University of Cincinnati Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, authorities said.
In addition to aggravated vehicular homicide, Stidhum was charged with vehicular homicide, tampering with evidence and failure to stop after an accident.
Chatfield’s friends said she was doing what she loved: staying fit and active. She was a member of the House of Run N Tri running group and lived in Moscow, Ohio.
Her fellow runners have continued to remember Chatfield. They are selling T-shirts in her honor and donating the proceeds to her favorite charity, the Brown County Humane Society.
"Such an innocent person was killed. And they didn't care to stay and say I'm sorry," Ackerman said. "My understanding, from witnesses, was the (driver) took the license plate off the back of his car and took something out of the trunk of his car."
A female passenger of the car later returned to the scene and was questioned by police.
Police were still searching for Stidhum Wednesday.
