By Joe Johnson
A Statham man has been charged with manslaughter for the death of his girlfriend two months ago, according to Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith.
William Andrew Kinsey, 46, was initially charged with reckless driving and causing serious injury with a motor vehicle for the March incident that killed 36-year-old Brittney Aaron Patterson, also of Statham.
The incident apparently occurred in the street outside of Patterson’s home on Goldshore Way.
On Friday, the sheriff said that after further investigation, Kinsey was additionally charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, and two counts of reckless conduct.
“Based on what we found we can say while possibly intoxicated, Kinsey ran over the foot of Patterson, causing a severe laceration to her foot,” Smith said.
“It is believed, and we have not gotten conformation yet from the crime lab, that Patterson died from that injury,” the sheriff said. “Based on what we know at this time, and it’s all we have, Kinsey did not call 911 at the time of the incident and did not do enough to render aid to Patterson.”
Smith added, “I’m not aware if they were arguing or not, I can only assume they were. It was a pretty significant injury but not sure if either of them knew the severity of it. We do know he helped her in the home but it’s unknown if he attempted any aid inside the home or not
According to the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched at about 8:30 a.m. March 8 to the Patterson’s home to investigate a neighbor’s report of seeing a blood trail that included footprints that led from Patterson’s driveway to the front door of her home.
The deputies reportedly forced their way into the home and found Patterson’s lifeless body.
About a week before the deadly incident, Kinsey had been released from jail after he had been arrested for violating a temporary protective order that was issued to another of Kinsey's former girlfriends, according to Winder Police Department and Barrow County Sheriff’s Office records.
On Feb. 12, a 31-year-old Statham woman filed a complaint against Kinsey because he allegedly was skirting a court-issued TPO by contacting the woman through third parties, according to a Winder police report.
While in Winder, the woman received a text message from an unknown phone number that stated, “Hey you should be nice to drew. He loves u.”
The woman reportedly told police that Kinsey was a former boyfriend who went by the name “Drew.”
She also said that customers regularly arrived at a store in Statham where she worked to deliver messages from Kinsey.
The police report indicates that no immediate action was taken because the text message was “relatively ambiguous" and the woman was unable to identify the people who delivered messages to her at her job from Kinsey.
According to the police report, additional investigation was needed to determine the owner of the phone from which the text message to the woman originated so that they could be questioned “regarding their interactions with Mr. Kinsey.”
The next day, on Feb. 13, Winder police arrested Kinsey for a felony TPO violation, according to Winder Police Chief Jim Fullington.
The Barrow County Detention Center’s website indicates that Kinsey was released from custody upon posting a $20,000 bond on Feb. 27.
Kinsey is currently incarcerated in lieu of bonds totaling $40,000 for the charges stemming from Patterson’s death.