Wednesday, January 21, 1998
Delhi woman charged in death
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Pedestrian killed in Oxford hit-skip

BY STEVE HOFFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

OXFORD - A Delhi Township woman was arrested Tuesday in the hit-and-run death of an Oxford resident Saturday evening in front of the Oxford KFC restaurant.

Shannon L. Wagner, 19, of Beech Meadow Lane was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.

Dennis L. Nunn, 68, who lived in Parkview Arms Apartments on College Corner Pike, was struck and killed on College Corner Pike, ''less than a city block from his home,'' Oxford Police Chief Steve Schwein said. Mr. Nunn was in the street when Ms. Wagner's 1986 Renault hit him, the officer said.

There were no witnesses, but investigators later identified two pieces of plastic molding found at the scene as being from the Wagner car. The pieces surrounded two headlights on the driver's side, Chief Schwein said.

Police found the Wagner car among a half-dozen damaged Renaults in the area.

A confidential Oxford source also aided police in identifying Ms. Wagner, the chief said. ''We learned she had acquaintances here,'' he said.

Of the estimated two dozen phone calls police received from the public, he said ''a couple were really helpful.''

Ms. Wagner was arrested at a location in the 300 block of South B Street, Hamilton. Her car, two blocks away, was impounded as evidence. She was taken to the Butler County jail in Hamilton to await a Tuesday afternoon bond hearing. In Butler County Area 3 Court she was held for $11,000 cash bond.

A preliminary hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Friday in Area 1 Court, Oxford. The court is expected to appoint an attorney today.

If found guilty on the aggravated vehicular homicide charge, a third-degree felony, Ms. Wagner could face five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. In addition, she could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for leaving the accident scene, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Two of Mr. Nunn's neighbors remembered him Tuesday. ''He seemed like an OK person,'' Doris Davison said. ''He would do anything for anybody.''

During their 15-year friendship, she said, they each worked in Oxford's Green Thumb program for retirees 55 and older.

Tommy Bellamy, a neighbor of Mr. Nunn's for six years, said, ''He was a very generous, good-hearted individual.''