A 40-year-old Florida woman could go to jail for up to 15 years for leaving the scene of an accident where she hit a man on a scooter, killing him by decapitating him inside out.
Lawyers for Sarah Rachel Nowlin said they would not fight the charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the hit-and-run death of 34-year-old Calvin Anthony Garlick in Pensacola. The First Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office said in a press statement that Nowlin was given a 15-year prison sentence on Wednesday. She must serve four years of her sentence before she can be released on parole.
Charles Britt, who was in charge of the prosecution, said, “This defendant knew what she was doing was wrong.” “Evidence showed that Ms. Nowlin knew she had hit someone, lied to everyone, even her 8-year-old child who was in the car at the time of the accident, tried to hide the car in the woods, and kept trying to hide the crime to avoid taking responsibility.” Nowlin had many chances to do the right thing, but he chose to protect himself at all costs.
A probable cause arrest document said the event happened on West Nine 1/2 Mile Road just before 10 p.m. on January 26, 2024, near where it meets Omar Avenue. When Garlick was hit, he was on his way home from work. A man who lived in a house close to where the crash happened found Garlick asleep and not breathing in a ditch. As soon as paramedics got there, they said Garlick was dead.
A 2008 Toyota Prius’s parts were found at the scene of the accident. A white car was seen speeding by the house on surveillance video at the time of the crash. This video was sent to the police and the local news sources. Police found the Prius in a grassy area the next day after the accident. The owner of the land called to report a “suspicious vehicle” with damage to the front end that was hiding behind some bushes and trees. A wine bottle that was empty was also by the car.
Detectives from the Florida Highway Patrol found that the car really was the one that was in the accident. Next, the police talked to the owner of the car. He said that his roommate Nowlin borrowed it that night so she could pick up her daughter. Nowlin never gave him back the car, and he texted him that “something bad happened.”
Troopers also talked to a man who was in the Prius with the driver. Nextlin told him it was a deer, even though he thought the car had hit something. He didn’t know they had hit someone until after the fact. The fact that he told the police that Nowlin was driving was enough for them to arrest her.
Before going to Florida, Garlick grew up in Michigan.
His death notice said, “Calvin was a happy-go-lucky man.” “He was a very hard worker and had various jobs in the hospitality business in Ludington, Grand Rapids and Pensacola.”
