KPD identifies hit-and-run victim Posted On: Tuesday, Nov. 10 2009 05:08 AM From staff reports

Killeen police have identified the woman killed in a hit-and-run incident Saturday.

Johnnie Ward, 63, of Killeen, died after being struck by a gray van, a Killeen Police Department news release stated. Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin pronounced her dead at 8:48 p.m. at Fort Hood's Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, where she was taken after being hit.

Potvin arraigned the man suspected of causing the hit-and-run Sunday. Miguel A. Palacios-Lopez, 32, was charged with driving while intoxicated. Palacios-Lopez has been released from Bell County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Killeen police are still investigating the incident.

At 6 p.m. Saturday, officers arrived in the 1800 block of North Eighth Street where witnesses said a woman had been run over by a man driving a gray van, the release stated. The driver of the van then fled the scene.

Witnesses told officers the driver and the victim were arguing and the victim walked away from the vehicle, the release stated. The driver then put the vehicle in reverse and ran the victim over before leaving the scene.

Officers found a van matching the description of the suspect's vehicle a short time later in the area of Henderson Street and Adams Avenue, the release stated. They arrested the driver on unrelated charges and took him to the city jail.

Potvin ordered an autopsy to be performed at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas.