WARNING: The content in the following article discusses topics of serious bodily injury. Viewer discretion is advised.
On November 6, 41-year-old Joel Lang turned himself into the Colorado Springs Police Department. Upon taking Lang into custody, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office recovered the minivan used in the deadly hit-and-run.
According to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, Lang has been charged with second-degree murder, vehicular homicide, duty to report accidents, and leaving the scene of an accident involving death.
Lang has been booked into the El Paso County Jail with a $50,000 bond. News5 has since acquired the affidavit that reveals a little more about the course of events.
At around 11:47 a.m. on November 4, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office received a call about a hit-and-run in the parking lot of a McDonald's in Monument.
The Monument Police Department responded and found a severely injured woman on the scene who later died. That woman was later identified as 47-year-old Kristy Kerst.
The affidavit reveals that Kerst and her daughter were waiting in the McDonald's drive-thru pick-up spot when Lang allegedly hit their vehicle after he received his order in a parking spot right next to Kerst and her daughter as he was trying to pull out.
After Lang allegedly hit Kerst's vehicle, Kerst and her daughter got out of the vehicle to talk to Lang about the accident.
The affidavit states that at this point, Lang allegedly tried to flee, hitting Kerst's daughter and running Kerst over, trapping her under the vehicle. Kerst was trapped under Lang's vehicle for what is estimated to be 300 feet before she fell out from under the vehicle.
Despite life-saving efforts from first responders, Kerst was pronounced dead at the scene.
Monument Police requested assistance from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, who responded and took over the investigation.
In an interview with Detective Michael Callis, Lang allegedly told Callis he knew he had hit Kerst, knew that she was being dragged under the van and that would kill her. He allegedly told the detective that he didn't look back because he knew he hit Kerst and just wanted to get out of the area.
The incident was isolated and is being treated as a homicide.
Lang is expected in court for his first appearance on November 14 at 1:30 p.m.
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Unaffiliated Voters Cast 46% of All Ballots in El Paso County
As of Wednesday night, voter turnout among active voters in El Paso County is at 78% and is expected to climb as election workers continue to process votes.
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