A 23-year-old Summerfield woman is serving jail time as the result of a hit-and-run accident in December involving a Lady Lake woman who had her six-year-old son riding as a passenger.
Charity Lashay Nelams is currently serving a 29-day sentence in the Sumter County Detention Center following her sentencing last week in Sumter County Court. She pleaded no contest to a charge of hit and run. She was driving with no insurance and was cited for careless driving in the Dec. 22 accident on U.S. 301 in Wildwood.
Nelams had been driving a 2006 Ford Expedition when she sideswiped a 2014 Honda Accord driven by 36-year-old Jennifer Fort Manly who lives on Urico Golf Road in Lady Lake. Manly’s six-year-old son Will was in the car and properly restrained, according to an accident report from the Wildwood Police Department. Nelams, who had four passengers in her vehicle including a 1-year-old child, drove away from the scene of the crash as Manly attempted to flag her down. Manly then called 911. A Wildwood police officer caught Nelams on County Road 213. Nelams initially tried to blame the crash on Manly, according to an arrest report. Nelams later admitted she had no insurance.
At the time of the crash, Nelams was on probation in Marion County after a conviction on a charge of retail theft. Her probation began in May 2016 and is scheduled to run through 2019.