MENALLEN TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A small memorial with flowers marks the spot along Route 40 where Carmen Higinbotham was struck by a car and killed, and state police said her husband -- who is also her adoptive cousin -- was the driver.
Higinbotham, 30, of Brownsville, was pronounced dead at the scene near Searights Crossroads in Menallen Township at about 1 a.m. Sunday, according to the county coroner's office.
Slideshow: Photos From The Crash Scene"Two women driving by saw her on the side of the road, drove to a nearby bar, and told a security guard, who went up to render aid," Trooper John Marshall said, adding that police want to speak with those women.
At a news conference Wednesday, District Attorney Nancy Vernon said Ronald Lee Higinbotham was taken to the state police barracks in Uniontown and charged with criminal homicide.
Describing the death as "violent," Coroner Dr. Phillip Reilly said that Carmen Higinbotham was struck by the car and then run over.
"It's an impact injury, occurring first to the head with the lethal skull factures (and) subsequently, the run-over with the marks and the crush injuries to the chest and the abdomen," Reilly said.
Troopers said they believe there was a history of domestic violence between the couple and that Carmen Higinbotham may have been considering leaving her husband as the two made their way home from a social gathering on Route 40 that night.
Though it originally looked like a random hit-and-run, police said they got a phone call from Ronald Higinbotham telling them that he believed he had killed his wife after she jumped from the vehicle.
Vernon said police believe that Carmen Higinbotham got out of the car during an argument. Blood and hair was found on the left bumper, and a search of the vehicle indicates that she was struck on the driver's side and left in the road, Vernon said.
State police said Ronald Higinbotham's extended family adopted Carmen as a child, so the two had known each other from a young age. Eventually, they married and ran a business caring for people with special needs.
Miele reported that Carmen Higinbotham had two biological children, two step-children and two adopted children, and that she recently reunited with some of her biological family members.
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