Woman charged in deadly hit-and-run due in court

Published 2:00 pm Monday, November 24, 2025

One of two people charged in connection with a hit-and-run incident that left a man dead was arraigned Monday.

Savannah Caldwell, 26, of Bowling Green, pleaded not guilty in Warren Circuit Court to charges of murder by complicity and first-degree wanton endangerment.

At the request of her attorney, Dennie Hardin, a pretrial conference was set for Jan. 26.

Caldwell is accused of occupying a 2009 Chevrolet Suburban that struck and killed Mario S. Harris, 38, on Aug. 24 outside Harris’ home on Brandywood Court.

The suspected driver, Fred Lee Hart, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, leaving the scene of an accident with serious physical injury/death, first-degree wanton endangerment, first-degree criminal mischief and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence.

Caldwell was released Aug. 26 from Warren County Regional Jail after posting a partially secured $25,000 bond, while Hart remains jailed under a $500,000 cash bond.

Harris’ death was investigated by the Bowling Green Police Department.

Officers were called Aug. 24 to 210 Brandywood Court and found Harris in front of his property with serious injuries.

He was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.

After officers arrived, Hart approached police and identified himself as the driver, according to prior testimony from BGPD Detective David Grimsley.

Hart reportedly told police that he was trying to back the Suburban out of the driveway onto Starlite Drive as Caldwell was in the passenger seat and arguing with Harris, who was standing outside near the back of a parked Nissan SUV.

Hart allegedly claimed that Caldwell placed the gearshift into drive and the Suburban lurched forward and struck Harris, and that Caldwell moved over to the driver’s seat and drove away from the scene when Hart got out of the vehicle to check on Harris.

Grimsley testified during a September preliminary hearing that he learned the Suburban had been driven back to Brandywood by a man who lived there and who said he was given a ride there earlier in the night by Hart and Caldwell when they ran into one another at a convenience store on Stonehenge Avenue.

That man told police he had gone inside the house after being initially dropped off and then when he came back outside, he saw Harris lying on the sidewalk, with Hart then instructing him to drive Caldwell back to her house and to drop off Hart in the area of Oriole Street and Moonlite Avenue.

A woman who was in a relationship with Harris dialed 911 and told police that several people were at the house on Brandywood that night and later described to police that Hart and Harris got into an argument over Hart bringing Caldwell, who has a child with Hart, to the residence, where another woman with children by Hart lives, Grimsley said.

“Apparently, Mr. Harris felt this was disrespectful for Mr. Hart to bring (Caldwell) around to her residence,” Grimsley said.

Harris’ girlfriend told police she had left to go to her house, only to get a call minutes later from someone who told her that Harris had been struck.

BGPD obtained a warrant for surveillance video footage from the Brandywood Court address.

Grimsley testified that there was a prior initial disturbance on the back porch in which Hart takes one of his children back from there to his vehicle and hands the child to Caldwell in the passenger seat.

Harris seen standing at the back of the Nissan SUV in the driveway when the Suburban backs out onto Starlite Drive, Grimsley said.

“The vehicle stops and then lurches forward as if it is in drive and stops again,” Grimsley testified. “Harris is standing there and essentially starts to walk toward the passenger side…and at that moment the vehicle accelerates at a high rate of speed to where it strikes Mr. Harris, essentially pinning him against the Nissan, and he then falls underneath the Suburban and out of frame (of the camera).”

Police found Caldwell at her residence, and she confirmed she had been at Brandywood Court earlier that night, but declined to speak further with officers.