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Amanda Butterfield Reporting A Cedar City woman died this weekend when she tried to help someone. Prosecutors have charged a man for her death, even though he was nowhere near her when she died.
VerLee Hunt's family started getting concerned when she didn't show up for work as a registered nurse at Valley View Medical Center on Sunday. So, they started making phone calls. That's when they found out what had happened.
Hunt was driving on highway 56 early Sunday morning, heading to work, when she saw a truck in the road, on its side. She stopped to offer help. Her son says she always wanted to help.
Shayne Hunt, Victim's Son: "She's always been that way. That's why she chose the profession that she did. That's why she was a nurse, so that she could help people."
She was trying to find any survivors. She did not know the owner of the truck, Florencio Bernal, had hitched a ride home two hours earlier, leaving his truck on the highway.
As Hunt was looking for the driver, a Suburban carrying a family of five hit the truck, which then hit VerLee.
Sr. Trooper Jeff Bigler, Utah Highway Patrol: "She was thrown over the barrier and over a fence. It looks like she was probably thrown 70 to 100 feet."
The family in the Suburban knew VerLee.
Shayne Hunt, Victim's Son: "They were neighbors of my dad, which was a few blocks away."
Shayne Hunt, Victim's Son: "They're all doing fine. We saw them in the hospital today. We stopped by."
Meanwhile, deputies found beer cans in Bernal's truck, and they tracked him down at his home. He was sleeping. He is a suspected illegal alien, who now faces several charges.
Sr. Trooper Jeff Bigler, Utah Highway Patrol: "He was arrested and charged with negligent homicide and some other charges. He's currently incarcerated in the Iron County Jail in Cedar City."
He's also charged with failure to report an accident and leaving the scene of an accident. He had no insurance and no drivers license. But VerLee's family has no hostility towards him.
Shayne Hunt, Victim's Son: "None. Really, it has no bearing. It was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It's just unfortunate that it happened to my mom."
VerLee Hunt was the mother of six children, and ten grandchildren. Funeral services will be held for her later this week.
