The North Augusta Department of Public Safety has arrested a North Augusta man Sunday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run Saturday involvin…
The North Augusta man charged in the fatal hit-and-run this weekend involving a 1-year-old girl was denied bond Monday.
Dillon Jesse Hapner, 26, of Conifer Court, is charged with hit-and-run with duties of a driver involved in an accident involving death, according to jail records.
An Aiken County magistrate judge denied Hapner's bond Monday morning at the Aiken County detention center, where Hapner will remain until his first court date, which is scheduled sometime in early November.
Investigators with North Augusta Public Safety believe Hapner struck 1-year-old Rylee Bloodworth with his burgundy Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck around 9 p.m. Saturday near Conifer Court in North Augusta, said Lt. Tim Thornton with North Augusta Department of Public Safety.
EMS rushed Bloodworth to the Augusta University Medical Center on Saturday night, but she was pronounced dead, said Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton.
Before Hapner was denied bond Monday, the judge allowed members of the child's family to speak.
Sierra Daniels, Bloodworth's mother, had tears streaming from her face and could barely speak when telling the judge about her child and the tragic accident.
"I'm not ever going to get see my baby grow up now," Daniels cried. "I've lost my child for no reason - this man should not get a bond."
Some of Bloodworth's family members claimed Monday the child was ran over twice on Saturday, though that has not yet been confirmed by police.
Daniels gave explicit details of the incident at the bond hearing Monday, claiming the child was still alive after being struck once by the truck, but then the suspect fled, which caused her to be struck a second time. She said she believes the second hit was what killed the little girl.
Taylor Smoot, Bloodworth's grandfather, said "(Hapner) ran over that baby and then drove away, trying to hide like a coward. No matter how you look at this situation, (Hapner) is at fault."
Hapner just stood quietly in front of the judge with his head down, never looking back at the family as they spoke and asked that the judge deny his bond.
North Augusta Public Safety released the incident report Monday afternoon, which offered more detail into the tragic story.
Officers responded to the scene Saturday night and spoke with Jeffery Bloodworth, the victim's father, who told officers that he, his girlfriend and two children were in the front yard Saturday night, when the suspect pulled across the yard and stopped, according to the report.
After stopping in the yard, the suspect asked Jeffery if he could borrow an auxiliary cord, which Jeffery told investigators he went and got for the suspect, the report states.
The suspect then started to drive away, which is when Jeffery claims the child was struck with the rear tire of the suspect's truck; then the suspect reportedly stopped again due to family members yelling at him, according to the report.
Jeffery told officers he then ran around the truck and began to assault the suspect, which is when the suspect hit the gas, fled the scene and did not return, the report states.
Investigators reported finding a set of tire tracks coming from the paved portion of the road for approximately 15 feet. They also reported observing "acceleration marks," where they found "blood and bodily fluids."
Following the incident, North Augusta investigators located Hapner's truck abandoned at a nearby Bojangles restaurant on 100 East Hugh Street, police reported.
While officers were processing the scene, a van was seen by police driving up and down the street, which led investigators to flag down the driver for questioning. The driver then told police he was asked to come to the location to get a pickup truck belonging to his friend, whom he identified as Hapner, according to the report.
The driver of the van then told officers Hapner was possibly at his residence on Beverly Circle, police reported.
Hapner was quickly located at the residence, where he was arrested and taken to the North Augusta Public Safety headquarters for questioning, the report states.
During an interview with police, Hapner told investigators he was leaving his residence on Conifer Street and driving across the yard as he always does, according to the report.
He claimed Jeffery Bloodworth waved him down as he was crossing the yard and asked to borrow an auxiliary cord from Hapner; he said he believed Jeffery was trying to get him to stay to "smoke weed or buy weed," the report states.
While speaking with Jeffery, Hapner claimed he noticed two other men approaching his truck from the driver's side and they attempted to pull him out of his truck, according to the report.
Hapner claims one of the men then pulled a gun and that is when he started driving away, but he said he stopped again after hearing people in the yard yelling that he had just struck a child. Jeffery then approached Hapner's truck and attempted to assault him, which is when Hapner claims he drove away from the scene and did not return, the report states.
Following the incident, Hapner said he left his truck at Bojangles and got a Lyft driver to pick him up to take him to his friend's residence, police reported.
When investigators finished questioning Hapner, he was taken to the Aiken County detention center.
