Updated on October 11:
No charges will be filed in the September 12 hit-and-run incident in New Bern that left one person dead.
According to a press release from the New Bern Police Department, after a thorough investigation by the department’s Traffic Enforcement Unit the driver and vehicle involved in the incident were identified and the parties involved were fully cooperative in the investigation. Following consultation with the Craven County District Attorney’s Office, “it has been determined that the facts and circumstances of this case do not support the filing of any criminal charges.”
The press release states that no further information will be released.
On September 12 at approximately 7 a.m., a passing motorist called 911 to report a person lying on the side of the road in the west bound lane of U.S. 70 under the South Glenburnie Road overpass. Emergency personnel from CarolinaEast Medical Center, members of New Bern Fire-Rescue and police personnel responded to the scene and located a deceased male who had been the victim of a hit and run. At the time there was no vehicle description or witnesses to the incident.
The victim has since been identified as Michael Isaiah Jay, 23, of New Bern. According to police his next of kin has been notified.
According to a statement released Tuesday by Craven County District Attorney Scott Thomas, the investigation showed Jay was struck between 8:30 pm and 8:45 pm on September 11 by a 2008 Thomas school bus operated by a “commercially licensed volunteer of an out-of-town private school” as it returned from a sporting event in New Bern.
According to the statement, examination of the scene indicated that Jay was wearing dark-colored clothing and was located in the roadway at the time he was struck.
Thomas said there is no indication the driver was violating any traffic laws at the time of the accident. The bus driver was unaware that the bus had struck a pedestrian but believed he had hit an unknown object in the roadway, the statement says. The driver stopped the bus at a location away from the scene and examined the bus.
“The bus exhibited minor damage to a lower right front area that is not readily visible from inside the bus. The bus driver notified school officials of the damage the following morning and school officials made a report to law enforcement the same day,” the statement reads.
According to Thomas, statements from witnesses were consistent with the evidence gathered during the investigation and no criminal charges will be filed.
The New Bern Police Department says the case is still an open and active investigation.