SMYTH COUNTY (WSLS 10) - State police have charged a Wytheville man with first-degree murder, as well as other charges, after a fatal hit-and-run crash on Wednesday morning.
Police say they responded to the crash in Smyth County involving two pedestrians, at 8:50 a.m.
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Two men and two women were riding in a 2008 Ford diesel pickup truck when the driver, John R. Lewis, pulled over and stopped in the 500 block of Knight Road.
Police say two of the passengers, Samuel D. Lawson and Heather M. Clontz, exited the vehicle and then Lewis pulled forward hitting Lawson and running over Clontz. The pick-up truck then left the scene, according to police.
Clontz, 35, of Fries, Va., died at the scene, while Lawson, 28, of Ivanhoe, Va., was flown to Bristol Regional Medical Center. He has since been treated and released.
Through the course of the investigation, state police located Lewis and his pickup truck in Wythe County. He was taken into custody without incident.
Virginia State Police has charged Lewis, 34, with one count of first-degree murder, one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of malicious wounding and two felony counts of hit-and-run.
Lewis is being held without bond at the New River Regional Jail.
State police also located the second adult female passenger. She is not being charged in the incident.
The Wythe County Sheriff's Office assisted state police with this incident
The incident remains under investigation.