Hit-and-run victim was great-granddaughter of former Columbus councilman

Kassandra “Kassie” Hollinhead, the woman killed in a hit-and-run Saturday night, was the great-granddaughter of former Columbus Councilman Frank D. Chester.

Chester, who passed in 2005, served on the Columbus Council from 1979 to 1999. The Frank D. Chester Recreation Center on Fort Benning Drive is named in his memory. In his obituary, Hollinhead was listed among other relatives.

Francis Brown, Chester’s daughter and Hollinhead’s grandmother, said Hollinhead was the former councilman’s pride and joy before his death.

“He loved Kassie, I tell you,” Brown said in a recent interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. “He just had that way with her.”

Hollinhead, 35, was struck by two vehicles and killed Saturday night while crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Jovonne Williams, a driver of one of the vehicles, has been charged with felony homicide by vehicle, hit-and-run, duty to report fatal injury accident, driving while license suspended or revoked and having no proof of insurance.

On Wednesday, Williams pleaded not guilty in Recorder’s Court. Her attorney, William Kendrick, argued against the homicide by vehicle charge. However, Judge Mary Buckner let the charge stand and bound all charges over to Superior Court on bonds totaling $16,550.

Chester, the former councilman, worked for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and served three years in the U.S. Army, according to his obituary. He retired in 1977 as supervisor for the Post Exchange at Fort Benning.

Brown said her father was a people person who lived an exciting life, and Hollinhead shared many of his characteristcs.

“She used phrases sometimes like him,” Brown said. “... Like I said, he loved her and she loved him. But she loved all her family.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Hit-and-run victim was great-granddaughter of former Columbus councilman."