Md. man charged in alleged fatal hit-and-run boat collision

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man has been charged in connection with the death of a woman last month after the boat she was in was struck by another vessel on a river, authorities said.

Brownell Edds Jr., 48, of Cape St. Claire, was arrested Friday by Maryland Natural Resources Police and charged with negligent manslaughter by a vessel and criminal negligent manslaughter by a vessel, news outlets reported.

Laura Slattery, 63, of Pasadena, and her husband were on a boat on the Magothy River on the evening of July 3, returning from watching fireworks. That’s when police said another boat struck their vessel from behind and left without stopping.

Slattery was critically injured and died a short time later. Her husband wasn’t injured.

“Our investigators and the state’s attorney’s office worked meticulously and diligently to make this arrest,” Natural Resources Police Superintendent Col. Adrian Baker said in a statement. It wasn’t immediately known if Edds has an attorney.