Police lights red

A man and woman from Decatur have been charged in connection to the July 4 boating death of a woman on Smith Lake, an official said Wednesday.

Sgt. Chad Pate, assistant commander for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Marine Patrol Division, said Nick Bowling Suggs, 50, and Jodi Wallace Suggs, 50, have been charged with criminally negligent homicide related to the death of 26-year-old Kelsey Starling of Troy.

Charges against the couple were handed down after a Winston County grand jury convened earlier this week. Officials from the 25th Circuit District Attorney’s Office in Winston County will prosecute the cases.

According to published media reports, Starling was the passenger in a boat driven by William Jackson Fite, 23, of Decatur. The boat reportedly collided with another boat driven by Jodi Suggs.

Fite was arrested for boating under the influence on July 5 and was later released on bond.

Crews have continued searching for Starling’s body since the crash. Efforts to recover her body resumed Wednesday and were to continue through Friday, Pate said. Starling was a teacher at Tuggle Elementary School in Birmingham.

He released no additional information, citing the ongoing investigation.