The woman accused of killing Robin Bowen was arrested and charged with murder. The arrest came less than 24 hours before the charity race to be held in Bowen’s honor.
Sylvia Dyson Sprinkle, 56, of Crystal Road, Taylorsville, was charged with driving while impaired on Christmas Eve 2010 after striking two women out for a morning run.
Bowen and running partner Dawn Yount were taken to an area hospital where Bowen died of her injuries. She was 44 and left behind a husband and three children.
Yount survived the wreck.
Sprinkle was indicted on additional charges Monday. Friday she was arrested by the Highway Patrol on charges of second-degree murder, felony death by vehicle and felony serious injury by vehicle.
Her bond was set at $250,000 secured.
Many are frustrated that Sprinkle wasn’t indicted for more than four months after the fatal wreck.
“It’s been hard knowing that she’s out there,” said the Rev. Josh Sherfey, of First Methodist Church Taylorsville. “Between now and then, she could have done it again.”
He was among a group of about 10 friends running together the day Bowen was killed.
“We have a running group here in Taylorsville,” said one of Bowen’s running mates, Marissa Cooper. “It’s called the Apple City Road Crew.”
Bowen was known as a motivator who would run along with beginning runners to encourage and support them in their journey to fitness.
“She wasn’t the fastest runner, but she was by far the most motivational,” Cooper said.
The runners were trotting east on N.C. 90 against traffic when an eastbound car struck Bowen and Yount.
“There were six or seven of us right there in a little pack together not far from Robin and Dawn,” Cooper said.
The runners heard the accident behind them.
“My wife and I are both runners as well, and we were with Robin the morning she was killed,” Sherfey said. “My wife is a physician and she was doing CPR while I was praying over her.”
Bowen’s fellow runners say the accident was easily avoidable.
“It was a freak accident, but there was a lot that could be attributed to a woman out on the road doing what she shouldn’t have been doing,” Sherfey said.
His wife, Shannon agreed.
“Robin was running on the gravel on the side of the three-lane road,” she said.
The runners say it’s not unusual for drivers to be reluctant to share the road.
“It is our right to get out and use the road as pedestrians and run – the roads are not just meant for vehicles,” Cooper said. “We ran at 5 a.m., because it was hard to make time during the day to do it.”
The runners have continued to run on the city’s streets, but they’re taking precautions.
“We wear more reflective gear and blinking lights and we’re a lot more conscious about things,” Sherfey said. “It’s tough to find a place to run in Taylorsville.”
Bowen was well known for her passion for running, and a five-kilometer race seemed the ideal tribute to her memory.
“We think about Robin and that day every single day,” Cooper said. “Tomorrow will show how loved she is and how missed she is.”
Organizers originally hoped about 200 people would sign up for the run, but more than twice that number will run in the first-ever “Robin’s Run.”
Robin’s three children are among the 500 people participating in today’s race.
The money raised by the charity run will be divided between the North Carolina Eye Bank, Alexander Central High School’s sport camps’ scholarship fund and the First Methodist Church’s youth group, Sherfey said.
WSOC-TV contributed to this article
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