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Saturday, November 14, 2026Nov 14

Chickamauga vehicular homicide driver accused of trying to run from police

Horace Cribbs died after getting hit by a car in a friend's yard in Chickamauga, Ga. Police say Mitchell Taylor Horton was the driver.
Horace Cribbs died after getting hit by a car in a friend's yard in Chickamauga, Ga. Police say Mitchell Taylor Horton was the driver.
photo Horace Cribbs died after getting hit by a car in a friend’s yard in Chickamauga, Ga. Police say Mitchell Taylor Horton was the driver.
photo Mitchell Taylor Horton is accused of killing Horace Cribbs after hit him with his car in Chickamauga, Ga., on the morning of Jan. 30. Police say Horton fled the scene and tried to hide his car.

UPDATE: Magistrate Kela Spence denied Mitchell Taylor Horton a bond this weekend. He remains at the Walker County Jail.

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ORIGINAL STORY: The man accused of running over a stranger and driving away planned to flee to California as police closed in, a state trooper said Friday.

Mitchell Taylor Horton, facing charges of hit and run and homicide by vehicle, allegedly told a “companion” he needed to get out of town. On Jan. 30, according to the Georgia State Patrol, Horton lost command of a friend’s Hyundai Sonata on North Marble Top Road in Chickamauga, Ga. He allegedly crossed into a front yard and hit Horace Cribbs, who had been trimming the grass. Cribbs died.

Cpl. Scotty Smith testified during a bond hearing Friday that investigators found the car the next day, covered in sheets and tarps behind a woman’s house on Kristen Drive. The woman called the sheriff’s office to say she had found the vehicle. Smith said the woman showed them a text message from Horton, promising to come back to get the car.