Arrest made in student’s hit-and-run death

Great work detectives

I am very happy that someone has finally been arrested in this case.
But why did police not make this connection months ago? Someone who was in Orono the night of the hit and run, gets a DUI for going off the road in Enta the same night? The car was impounded, they had the make and model. It would seem like at least a possible connection to me, if not the most obvious one.

kinda sucks it took him 3 months to man up and turn himself in…but I am glad that our community can have a little relief knowing it wasn’t an Orono resident or UMaine student who was responsible.

He only turned himself in because of the warrant. Don’t give him ANY credit for that.

Also, it took three months because they most likely had to make sure everything was all set before this went public, making sure that he couldn’t get off on a technicality and whatnot.

I’m just glad they made an arrest.

Great news! It probably took some time to officially confirm everything matched to his vehicle and interview other witnesses. They probably wanted to make sure this was solid before issuing a warrant. Hopefully now, her family has some closure.

I feel bad for everyone involved. A lot of lives were ruined by this needless tragedy. It is awful, this loss of Jordyn to her family, friends, and the people whose lives she would have touched. It is also awful for Garrett and his family for him throwing away his life. I hope that everyone is paying attention here. If the same thing had happened without him drinking and he had stopped to even try to help, he would not be looking at jail time. We all need to make the decision that drinking and driving is a bet that we can not afford to make. Protect yourself and the people around you. Don’t drink and drive. Ever! All it takes is once. Let us each honor Jordyn’s memory with a commitment to never let this happen by our hand. And take the keys from your friends…

I’m sorry but I feel bad for everyone but Garrett. He could have stopped and called 911 even if he thought she was already gone. Hit and run is the most awful thing you can do especially if it involved hitting a human being. He obviously feels nothing for any other person but himself. It’s okay to be scared of getting caught for doing something that you did wrong but it is not okay to walk away from something that you caused yourself. I feel so horrible for the girls family. He deserves what he has coming to him and I hope he gets the max sentence.

Ya… like you guys have never drove drunk before… I know its a horrible thing to say, but almost every young adult makes that bad decision. I went to school with Cheney and he is a good ass dude who just happen to make a bad choice. I totally agree that what he did was wrong but he’s a good guy. You should be asking the people he was with why they didnt stop him from leaving? friends arnt supposed to let friends drive drunk. I hope those kids feel just as guilty as he does. And whos to say that he even realized he hit her? if he was that wasted maybe he didnt know he hit a person. people make mistakes and its sad that such a good kid mad one bad choice that night. love you man

who cares.
They got him and that is what matters.

Yes, the sooner the better, but wouldn’t you rather they didn’t make any mistakes and bring the guy to justice so he can pay for his crime?

If the police had rushed and made a mistake then he would’ve gotten away with it.

This is, of course, assuming they have the right guy… innocent until proven guilty – I read that he turned himself in though. So, it seems sure.

I’m sorry S.berwick grl, but I went to school with Garrett, too, and the fact that he is a “good guy” is COMPLETELY irrelevant. Yes, the people he was staying with should have stopped him from driving, but when that kid is determined to do something, there’s no stopping him… something I’m sure you know… it was ultimately his decision to drive drunk. Also, he hit Jordyn so hard that she died instantly… it would be pretty hard to believe that anyone, no matter how drunk, wouldn’t notice hitting a person… especially since he did get out of the car (as police say). Yes, people drive drunk, yes people make mistakes, but NOBODY should leave the scene of an accident after hitting a pedestrian. THAT was his worst mistake, and I cannot comprehend how anyone can be so selfish as to drive away from something like that hoping to not get caught. I LOVE YOU JORYN!!!! <3 <3
My condolences to the Bakleys and my greatest sympathy for the Cheneys (minus Garrett… sober up bud)

I can’t even begin to explain how insane this comment is. That “bad choice” took my friend’s life. You’re deluding yourself if you believe he didn’t know. If he woke up the next day, and knew about the accident, why didn’t he turn himself in until now?

I hope he drops the soap in the shower.

he’s a cowardly piece of garbage who should still be in jail.

If you know it is a horrible thing to say, then why say it?

It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of him. He hit a beautiful young woman, a student, quite likely a future mother and wife. Garret destroyed an entire family with out any thought at all. For 20 years Jordyn’s parents dreamed of her and worked to make her life the best they could. In a matter of seconds, Garrett destroyed everything. He killed her with his vehicle and left her to die, only days after he was arrested for DUI. He didn’t even try to save her.

What kind of person does that?

Are you actually defending his actions by saying that he might have been so drunk this time as not to know that he ran over a 20 year old woman?
As if, somehow, either scenario is less despicable?

It is ridiculous that you are blaming his friends for his actions. Maybe you are a family member or wrought with grief, but no one put alcohol in Garrett’s hand and forced him to drink. No one forced him to drive his vehicle that morning. No one made him run into Jordyn. No one forced him to leave her there to die in hopes that he wouldn’t get caught. You seem ready to blame anyone except for the man responsible. Why don’t you just blame Jordyn?
After all, why was she walking down the street at 5am?

This was a very violent thing which happened and he killed someone. By alcohol or not, he deserves nothing less than a very long prison sentence.

It is too bad, I agree. Garrett made his own decisions and you could say that he was unlucky, but Jordyn was even unluckier. Garrett’s parents still have their child, even if in jail. I don’t see this situation every being fair or equal for the parents of Jordyn Bakley.

They need to prove it through forensics that it was him..they cant just arrest him on a hunch because his car matched…I am glad they got him..everyone things of Jordyn every day..we love and miss her!

“bad choice” really girl? Blaming his friends? Are you for real? He should have known he was too drunk and yes his friends should have tried to stop him but this all fell on garretts shoulders the second he had the thought in his head to even drive. He hit a human being and drove away, you have to be crazy to not notice that no matter how drunk. You might think he is a good guy but do you really think a good guy would do a thing like this? Really get real!!!! S. Berwick girl it wasn’t a bad choice it was an awful thing he did.

“Ya… like you guys have never drove drunk before”

No I have not, for this very reason, it could kill somebody. How can you defend him by saying “maybe he was so drunk he didn’t even know he hit someone?” Does that make this girls death any less horrible? I am going out on a limb and saying that this probably was not the first time this kid ever drank and drove. The responsibility is on him, not his friends.

For one, don’t accuse every single person of driving drunk at one point in their life. I am 21 and even now I never drive unless I have had less than 1 drink and when I wasn’t 21 I never drove after drinking ever. Just because statistics say that most young adult has, doesn’t mean you can generalize it to everyone.

I wish the judge had set the bail higher.

In this dialogue we see anger, sadness over loss, and understanding of a friend (s. berwick girl and others) who being an otherwise good guy has this element of choices that has wrought havoc. So the takeaway from this has to be the choices we make and the lessons we can learn. Each of us has a choice to make in our actions and in how we support each other to make good choices. We each have the capacity in our moments of weakness to be foolish and afraid. In S. Berwick girl’s comments I hear that there was nothing in Garrett that she saw that could have predicted this. So in each of us lies the potential…what can we do to make sure that WE do not wreak havoc? Remember Jordyn when make arrangements for a safe ride home BEFORE we go out. Let her life save others. Let the loss of her not be in Vain…Our choices are made from this day on with this lesson learned.

I don’t think that you meant to reply to me.
I didn’t write or imply any of those things that you are asserting.

I think this message was meant for the poster S. Berwick girl

I was just reading another article that states that Bly, Cheney’s attorney says that they believe they have the wrong man… That it just so happens that Cheney was in an accident the night this occurred. In other words if he was trying to get away from the hit and run then he wouldn’t have called the police. If he is indeed responsible then he should be punished. Bly also states that he believes the investigators stopped looking at any other suspect early on in the case after they found evidence that matched Cheney’s vehicle. I personally think that the reason that it took so long for an arrest is because they wanted to make 100% sure they had the right person for this crime. I really hope that the correct person is charged and if it isn’t Cheney then who is it?

Of course it matters how quickly this was done. They released details of their investigation months ago saying that they believed the vehicle was a chevy possibly a silverado. Now they know who it was with a DUI in the area of a car that matched their own guess on make and model? That took way too long! time is always of the essence. Evidence gets lost, the criminal had time to cover his tracks and potentially get out of reach. How is it immaterial that they took this long?this wasn’t good detective work this was barely adequate work combined with luck and chance.

Yes they can issue a warrant based on that information of car parts and his DUI. They could have pulled every DUI in the area in for questioning. Perfectly legal especially considering the evidence at the scene was a possible match to his car and they knew it!

I am happy that we can all have closure. I had just finished school when this terrible thing happened. I am so relieved that this case did not go unsolved. We have all made mistakes. But there are different degrees of poor choices. As far as our courts are concerned they are basically civil, misdemeanor, felony, Class E,D,C,B,A. Garrett deserves the worst punishment possible. This kid drove drunk – mistake one, hit an innocent girl with his truck, another mistake, and left the scene… mistake number 3. If I continue on I think we can count about 5 or 6 bad decisions or “mistakes” that did a number on this family and community. I can only hope that justice is served and others can take an important lesson.

unless you have any evidence to back up the statement that this was poor police work then you are just rambling, at best.

I too wish they found him even sooner, but I am not a police officer and I don’t know proper procedure or the requirements of the law on investigations and evidence.

In any case, the person was caught and that is something that we both can agree is a positive thing. We’ll have another opportunity to disagree soon, I’m sure, but hopefully not on his sentencing.

Great police work involved-different departments and agencies collaborating. Every detail has to be in place, and then the DA’s office before a warrant can be issued. This is where the “beyond a reasonable doubt” comes into play-any doubt and he can not be convicted. Unlike on television, justice is slow moving. According to all reports, he only turned himself in at the advice of his lawyer, when they learned that the arrest warrant had been issued. If he were innocent, where is the effort to clear his name? I would fight if I were wrongly accused. May a quick and just closure bring a tiny measure of peace to Jordyn’s family.

“You should be asking the people he was with why they didnt stop him from leaving? friends arnt supposed to let friends drive drunk. I hope those kids feel just as guilty as he does.”

that is such an unfair comment. friends can try to stop friends from driving but people are going to do what they want to do whether or not friends try to stop them. and what if the people at the house didn’t even noticed that he had left, how would they have known that he was going to drive, how could they have prevented this. and the people that you are accusing for letting him drive are probably also classmates of yours that would never let a friend drive, you have no idea what the situation was. it was ultimately his decision and you have no right to place blame on anyone else but him. he took the life of an intelligent, beautiful young lady, no one else did what he did. he deserves to be the only one punished for all the hurt he has caused