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Woodstock teen still critical after Athens hit-and-run

“It was a fun night that went real bad real fast.”

That is what Connor O’Sullivan said about a Friday night birthday party in Athens. But he’s back in a Clarke County hospital, standing watch at the bed of his friend Emily Bowman.

The 19-year-old Woodstock college student is fighting for her life after police say she was ran over from behind by a hit-and-run driver on the streets of Athens.

“Just tough to look at, actually,” said O’Sullivan.

Bowman is unconscious and still on life support after she was hit around 3 a.m. Saturday.

“It’s hour-by-hour,” Emily’s mother Debra told Channel 2 Action News. “Very heart wrenching to see my daughter in the state the she is. It’s like a nightmare.”

Bowman still has severe head trauma. Doctors had to remove a portion of her skull to relive swelling on the brain.

Athens-Clarke County police say they know who hit the teenager, but have not made any arrests.

Emily was walking eastbound on Oak Street between Carr and Oconee Streets when a driver in a red pickup truck, also traveling eastbound, left the roadway and her from behind, police said.

The driver left the scene, but police found the 1997 red Mazda pick up a short time later and say it sustained a lot of damage. The bed of the truck was filled with empty beer cans.

Police have yet to name their suspect, but they say he is 22-years-old. Detectives did serve a warrant a house in Oconee County Monday and took a cellphone as evidence.

Athens Clarke-County police Lt. Don Eckert says the suspect has retained an attorney and neither he nor his parents are cooperating with the investigation.

“They have a right not to speak with us and they are exercising that right,” Eckert said Monday afternoon.

Investigators have also recovered surveillance video from business in the area and are hoping to speak to more witnesses.

But while family and friends are anxious for an arrest, they have more important things on their mind.

“We tell her we love her and we are there for her,” Bowman’s friend Tatiana Martinez said. “We've seen her move her hands and that's a good sign, there is definitely hope. “

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