Campbell gets 22 years for DWI, leaving scene of deadly incident at local bar

2018 hit-and-run tragedy ends with long prison sentence for driver intoxicated far beyond legal limit
Lerenda Campbell will be celebrating Thanksgiving, and all other holidays, in prison for the next several years to come. Campbell, 37, was sentenced to 22 years in prison on Friday, Nov. 15, for driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. She received 15 years for the DWI charge and seven years for leaving the scene. The sentences, the maximum penalty Campbell could receive on each count, will run consecutively. She pleaded guilty to the charges of Aug. 13 of this year.
Campbell killed Nichole Marie Barker in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 22, 2018, when she struck Barker, 42, with her vehicle in the parking lot of what was then Sherry’s Tavern. According to the probable cause statement in the case, Mt. Vernon police officers were dispatched to the scene where they found a woman performing CPR on Barker. One of the officer’s took over performing CPR until it was determined Barker was deceased.
About 45 minutes after the officers had arrived at the scene, an investigator was told that Barker and Campbell had been in a fight in the parking lot after the tavern shut down, and that Campbell had run over Barker and left the scene. At about the time the investigator spoke with the officer, Campbell had been found and was transported to the Mt. Vernon Police Department for questioning.
During her interview, Campbell claimed she was at the bar with another person whom she identified as Tommy Webb when Barker approached her and said she was going to fight her. Campbell said that after the tavern closed, she and Webb left the building, and then Barker attacked Webb.
Continuing, Campbell claimed she had gotten into her vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban while Webb got into the vehicle on the passenger side, and that Barker began to strike Webb through the open passenger window. Campbell said she backed up the Suburban in an attempt to get away from Barker and she backed her vehicle into a parked truck. She said Webb was telling her to drive off, and she said she thought she might have hit someone, but she left the scene.
A breathalyzer test at the police station showed Campbell’s blood alcohol content to be .151.
She was booked into the Lawrence County Jail that day, but was released on a $75,000 bond on June 4, 2018 and remained free until sentencing.
After she was sentenced, Campbell was taken into custody. As of press time, she remained in the Lawrence County Jail.