A
32-year-old Virginia woman, Amanda Kempton, was arrested in connection with the fatal hit-and-run death of Hamptons real estate agent Sara Burack. During her arraignment in Southampton Town Justice Court, Kempton's lawyer claimed that she thought she had struck a traffic cone, not the victim.
Kempton, a marine biologist, pleaded not guilty and was released on $100,000 bail after her family posted collateral. The high bail was requested by prosecutor MacDonald Drane, who described Kempton as a flight risk due to her planned return to Virginia for a wedding.
Kempton faces seven years in prison on a felony charge of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in a fatality. According to prosecutors, she had spent time at a tavern before the incident and then left the scene, only to discover later that she had struck Burack's pink suitcase with her vehicle.
The area was foggy at the time of the incident, and Kempton claimed she did not see the victim. Authorities tracked down her vehicle using a license plate reader after finding a damaged front end at her family's home.
