SHREWSBURY, W.Va. — State Police have released the name of a man who was struck and killed by a pickup truck on Halloween last year in Kanawha County.
Robert Jackson, of Belle, was hit by the vehicle on Oct. 31, 2023 while he was walking along U.S. Route 60 at the intersection with Pine Street in the town of Shrewsbury.
The suspected driver and the vehicle have been found, but no decisions have been made on possible charges, according to Cpl. Manol Akos with the State Police Quincy detachment.
“We’ve located the suspect and located the vehicle. We did later on that day. Currently, it’s still being under review by the prosecutor’s office, but the report has been completed up to this point,” Akos told MetroNews Tuesday.
Jackson’s body was found at around 11:45 a.m., but it’s unclear exactly what time he was hit.
“A victim on the railroad tracks appeared to be struck by a vehicle and was deceased and then we had located some evidence of a specific vehicle, so we tried to track that down. We later located that vehicle and made contact with a male suspect,” Akos said.
The pickup truck was located in Glasgow hours later. Jackson’s body was sent to the state Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. Akos said they’re waiting on DNA evidence from the vehicle and word from the Kanawha County Prosecutor’s Office about how to move forward.
“Now we’re just waiting on forensic stuff to come back from the lab. The prosecutor’s office has been involved and they’re up to date on everything we’ve done. We’re just waiting on them to decide what they want to do as far as prosecution,” he said.
Jackson was wearing dark clothing at the time he was struck. Police don’t believe alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash.
Troopers and prosecutors are working to determine if the crash was an accident.