Athens woman sentenced to prison for hit-and-run death of UGA student

Knox Whiten

By Joe Johnson

An Athens woman was sentenced to prison Monday for killing a University of Georgia student and fleeing from the scene.

As part of a negotiated plea with prosecutors, 29-year-old Virkerria Lacole Steward pleaded guilty to first-degree homicide by vehicle, hit and run, driving while license suspended, and making a false report of a crime, according to her attorney, Benjamin Pearlman.

In accordance with the plea deal, Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Eric Norris sentenced the woman to 17 years with the first seven years to be served in prison and the balance on probation, her attorney said.

Virkerria Steward

Athens-Clarke County police said the incident happened early the morning of March 21, 2021, when Steward’s car struck and killed 21-year-old Knox Whiten, a UGA student from Toccoa, who was walking in a travel lane of the Athens perimeter, with his back against traffic in the early morning hours of March 21, when he was fatally struck from behind by a Chevrolet Cruze driven by 28-year-old Virkerria Lacole Steward, who fled the scene, according to Athens-Clarke County police.

A week after the fatal hit and run, Stewart and her mother, 59-year-old Sophia Harris Steward were each charged with false report of a crime, for reporting that the Chevrolet Cruz that struck Whiten had been stolen had actually been torched in Jackson County, in what police said was an attempt to destroy evidence.

Sophia Steward

Assisting in the cover-up was Sophia Steward’s husband, 49-year-old Roderick Dejuan Marble, according to police.

Roderick Marble

Sophia Harris was charged with false report of a crime and tampering with evidence; she and her husband were each charged with arson in Jackson County. The status of those cases were not immediately available.