HOLMES BEACH – A hit-and-run traffic accident on Gulf Drive that caused the death of a pedestrian has resulted in a local woman being charged with a felony – leaving the scene of a crash that resulted in a death.
Driver Cierra Shannon has entered a plea of not guilty in Manatee County 12th Judicial Circuit Court.
Attorney Ronald Filipkowski entered a plea of not guilty on his client’s behalf on Monday, Feb. 15. Shannon, a 27-year-old Holmes Beach resident, was charged in the hit-and-run death of 83-year-old Madelyn Dakin of Michigan. The case has been assigned to Judge Lon Arend.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said the incident occurred just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10 in the 2700 block of Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach, near the city’s southern border with Bradenton Beach. Dakin, a pedestrian, was struck by a vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
Holmes Beach police, assisted by the Bradenton Police Department’s traffic unit, investigated the incident. According to a probable cause affidavit provided by the HBPD, Shannon was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
The affidavit says Dakin was trying to cross Gulf Drive outside of a crosswalk when she was struck by Shannon’s vehicle, a 2006 silver Chevrolet Trailblazer, traveling south on Gulf Drive. The vehicle was identified by the city’s license plate reader cameras. Multiple witnesses say they saw a blonde woman in her 20s beside the victim, shaking her and asking for help before getting back in the vehicle and leaving the scene. Witnesses later identified Shannon as the woman at the scene from a photo lineup.
Local law enforcement launched a search to find Shannon and her vehicle. By the morning of Thursday, Feb. 11, a lawyer representing Shannon contacted police to give them the location of her vehicle and say that she would be surrendering to law enforcement.
The vehicle was located at 4535 119th St. W. in Cortez, near a trap yard at the FISH Preserve. It was impounded by police around 4 p.m. on Feb. 11 and determined to have front-end damage on the passenger side consistent with Dakin’s injuries.
By 4:45 p.m., Shannon had turned herself in to the Bradenton police and was charged in the crash. She was released from custody on Friday, Feb. 12 on a $15,000 bail bond with supervised release and ordered to not drink alcohol. Shannon was ordered to appear in Manatee County Criminal Traffic Court on Friday, March 5.
Tokajer said the investigation is ongoing and that police are seeking information from anyone who saw her or was with her before the crash or who has information on her activities before the incident to see if her actions earlier in the day were a determining factor as to why she left the scene.
According to Manatee County court records, Shannon was found guilty of driving under the influence in 2015 and was ordered to serve a year of probation, complete DUI school and pay a fine in place of community service hours.
Anyone with information on Shannon or the crash is asked to please contact Holmes Beach Det. Brian Hall at 941-932-6161 or email detective@holmesbeach.org. Information also can be emailed to BPDtips@bradentonpd.com. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-634-8477 or send an anonymous tip electronically online.
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