Mar 7, 2022 3 min read

Greene County Regional Police have charged a Morris Township woman for a vehicle accident that killed a mail carrier last October, alleging her failure to take prescribed medications led to the incident.

Tina Marie Phillips, 46, of 373 Andrews Road, faces felonies of homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death or personal injury, aggravated assault by vehicle, tampering with public records, misdemeanors of involuntary manslaughter, tampering with records, and several traffic violations. Charges were filed Friday.

According to court records, Phillips had a seizure when her car went off the road at 180 Andrews Road in Morris Township about 3 p.m. Oct. 25, hitting Chad Varner, 49, of Spraggs, who later died. Varner was walking across the front yard of a home to deliver mail at the time.

Phillips suffers from epilepsy and Type 2 diabetes, according to court records. The criminal complaint states that her medical records showed repeated concerns from doctors that she was not taking her medication.

“Some of the red flags on the police’s end was when we started to delve in to her history we saw that she was negligent in taking her medication. As we executed search warrant upon search warrant, we started to unravel a pattern of medical disparities,” Greene County Regional Police Chief William DeForte said Monday.

DeForte said Phillips’ ability to drive was conditioned on her taking the medication.

“We had filed these charges with a heavy heart. We think that it’s a tragedy on both ends,” DeForte said. “However, this tragedy resulted in a valuable asset and an amazing human being’s life being lost in the process.”

According to the complaint, immediately after the accident Phillips and her mother, who was in the passenger seat, waved down another motorist for help. Poor cellphone service in the area meant the driver had to go to Hopkins Store on Browns Creek Road to contact 911.

Both Phillips and her mother told police they believed that Phillips had suffered a seizure. According to court records, lab tests showed that Phillips was hyperglycemic a few hours after the crash occurred.

DeForte described Varner as a loved and respected member of the community.

“Mr. Varner was that mailman that you would see in the movies, quite literally. He was a guy that would just go out his way to help you,” DeForte said.

At the time of the accident, Varner had been walking a delivery to the front door of the home because it did not fit in the mailbox.

“He always made sure the mail got there quickly and intact. It was such an appreciated service in the community. I don’t think that can ever be replaced,” DeForte said.

Online court records list Phillips’ case as inactive, and she had not been arraigned on the charges Monday afternoon.