‘If I could replace him’: Woman heads to prison after running over, killing man
Ingrid Collins stood before the family of the man she killed in a hit-and-run crash and quickly became overwhelmed as she discussed the pain she caused.
“If I could replace him, and bring him back, and do it over, I would. Because it’s not fair, it’s not fair to him or his family,” Collins said on Wednesday as she wiped tears from her eyes.
Collins will now head to prison for one-and-a-half years for the killing of Brian Bigert in March 2019. Collins was in the Conway court on Wednesday to plead guilty to a charge of hit-and-run where a death happened. She has until November to report to prison.
Assistant Solicitor Seth Oskin said the video evidence showed Collins hitting Bigert near a parking lot for a Myrtle Beach Walmart grocery store at 17th Avenue South. She then fled the area.
However, defense attorney Fran Humphries said Collins has a medical condition—that has been undiagnosed, and he didn’t name it—that causes her to suffer blackouts. He said she has no recollection of the crash.
“Ingrid can not tell you, standing here today, why this occurred,” Humphries said.
Collins stopped at the exit and Bigert was walking in the crosswalk, Humphries said. Then, as he was in front of her car, Collins hit him and calmly left the lot. She went to the light and made a casual turn to leave the area.
“She is beyond inconsolable about what she’s done,” Humphries said.
Throughout the case, Humphries said, his client has said she wanted to be held responsible for her actions. Collins has no criminal history and once worked as an EMT/firefighter dispatcher.
Collins told the Myrtle Beach community and Bigert’s family she was sorry for her actions.
“If I had known what I would have done, I would have stopped,” Collins said. “I realize this is not me.”
Bigert’s brother, Matt, and mother, Jean, were in the courtroom but did not speak. Instead, they provided a letter and Oskin spoke on their behalf.
“They miss their brother. They miss their son,” Oskin said. “They’re heartbroken.”
After the hearing, Jean Bigert said her son moved to the Myrtle Beach area because he was tired of the cold weather in the family’s northeast U.S. home and he also liked the ocean. Brian Bigert worked as a waiter, but it was always a dream to own his own business.
Brian Bigert was a “free spirit” and adventurer, who would do things like go hang gliding, his family said.
He was a friendly person and Bigert’s family detailed how his neighbor in Myrtle Beach—who was a bit older than Brian Bigert—told the family how Brian would have dinner with him. His relatives also recounted about when Brian Bigert worked as a waiter in Pennsylvania, the regular customers loved him because he would remember them. He would always stop for a conversation, even if he wasn’t serving them.
“He was a good person,” Jean Bigert said.
Brian called his mom about every week, she said. Matt Bigert also talked about how his brother loved his nieces and the youngsters miss their uncle.
“He was like a big teddy bear,” Jean Bigert said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 5:35 PM.
