A Charleston-area woman died Tuesday night after apparently being struck by an automobile.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff William Brewer said the accident was reported at 10:06 p.m. Tuesday by Vernon Smith of Charleston, the driver of the vehicle, near the intersection of Burns Circle and Highway 32, a couple of miles east of Charleston.
Tallahatchie County Deputy Coroner Marenda Mims identified the victim as Patricia Ann Brown Bernard, 30, of 96 Burns Circle.
Mims said Ms. Bernard was pronounced dead in the emergency room at Tallahatchie General Hospital at 11:37 p.m. Cause of death was ruled "multiple trauma," noted Mims, who added that the final determination is pending the outcome of a mandatory toxicology report.
Mims said Eddie Robinson & Sons Funeral Home of Grenada will be in charge of arrangements for Ms. Bernard.
Brewer said Wednesday that details are sketchy, but he noted "it appears that Ms. Bernard and her small child that she had with her were walking and just went out in front of a vehicle. She was struck and the child was knocked out of the road."
The sheriff said the youngster — he guessed the boy's age at 5 to 7 years — was treated and released from the Charleston hospital Tuesday night.
"It was just an act of God that he only had a knot on his head," Brewer added. "They said he was OK."
The accident remains under investigation by the Mississippi Highway Patrol.
