Driver faces charge of reckless homicide

A young Bedford County woman was indicted Monday on charges of reckless homicide for her role in a fatal accident in December 2008.

Shelby Lynn Tyson was indicted by the Bedford County grand jury on the charges and was taken into custody after she was arraigned, but was already on bond for other charges. Bond on the new charges was set at $4,000.

Tyson was a juvenile when she collided with Ahmed Ali Elmi, 31, of Nashville on Dec. 13, 2008, at the intersection of U.S. 231 North and Whiteside Road shortly before 6 a.m.

Elmi was killed and, according to accident investigator Matt Griffy of the Shelbyville Police Department, Tyson had admitted at the time that she had been drinking and may have fallen asleep.

"She was inbound, crossed the turn lane and struck the Elmi car, causing her truck to turn onto its side," Griffy said at the time.

However, assistant district attorney Richard Cawley said while they had thought Tyson was intoxicated, the results of toxicology tests showed no drugs in her system and just "a small amount of alcohol," but she was not legally impaired.

Cawley added that it took nearly 10 months to get the lab results back in Tyson's case.

She is represented by attorney John Norton and will return to court on Feb. 4.

Only two others were indicted by the grand jury on Monday ---Lewis Kyle Freeman, 26, was charged with violation of the sexual offender registry and Cary Donathan Mathis, 33 of Lebanon, was indicted on one count of forgery.

Both are scheduled to appear next on Feb. 4