MACON, Ga. — A Macon man charged in a deadly 2021 East Macon hit and run will not be prosecuted.
The District Attorney's Office cited new witness testimony and GBI analysis that led to the decision.
Irene Stubbs was hit and killed while walking home from the store on July 16, 2021. Eight months later, Nathan Charles Epps was accused of speeding, hitting Stubbs with a 2006 Hyundai Sonata and driving off.
Friday, the DA's Office said they dropped the charges. They said in a statement that the decision was made based on the evidence. When evidence is not there to proceed, they say it's their duty to drop the charges.
"We have a legal and ethical obligation to protect the rights of both victims and defendants. Removing someone’s liberty without proper evidence goes against our obligation to pursue justice for all," the DA's Office said.
Beverly Berrian - Irene Stubbs' sister - says she fought every day to see justice for her sister.
“It brought harm back into our life,” she said. “They didn't do justice to my sister because we fought for her while we were there.”
She says as soon as she heard the charges had been dropped, she felt like a wound had been reopened.
“For her life to be taken from us like that, it left a blank void in our life,” Berrian said.
Stubbs' granddaughter Amari says her grandmother was like a mother to her.
“I wanted her support and for her to be gone in just a second it took everything from me,” Stubbs said.
She says she is in shock after hearing that the charges had been dropped.
“It was more that Bibb County could have done in terms of how my grandmother's death was handled,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs' family says they will remember her as a loving person.
“She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a friend, she meant something to a lot of people,” Berrian said.