A homeless man became the latest pedestrian to die on Augusta roads when he was struck Sunday morning while trying to cross Gordon Highway.
Barry Anthony Smith Jr., 39, was struck by a westbound vehicle while trying to cross the 1800 block of Gordon Highway. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 3:18 a.m. Sunday, Coroner Mark Bowen said. An autopsy has been scheduled, and no other details were released.
The death marks a string of back-to-back weekends in Richmond County marked by pedestrian deaths.
On Oct. 13, Annie Doyle of Martinez was a walking when she was struck by an eastbound vehicle on the 2000 block of Gordon Highway in Augusta. Doyle was transported to Wellstar MCG by EMS, where she was pronounced dead. She left behind a husband, two children and two step-children.
The same night, a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle on Deans Bridge Road and transported to Wellstar MCG by EMS where he was pronounced dead. The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
On Oct. 7, local mother Joni Mitchell was riding her bicycle with the youngest of her three sons when she was struck on Lumpkin Road at Fleming Drive. Her son looked on in horror as his 38-year-old mother was thrown several yards from her bicycle and died on the scene. The vehicle that struck Mitchell left the scene.
A few days later, Jasmine Nicole Johnson, 29, was taken into custody and charged in Mitchell’s death. She was charged with felony leaving the scene, driving while license suspended, and no insurance coverage.
The same evening as the Mitchell death, 39-year-old Broderick Parker was walking on the 3100 block of Richmond Hill Road when he was struck by a vehicle traveling south. The victim was just two blocks from home on Richmond Hill Road when he was struck.
The driver who hit Parker abandoned the vehicle and fled. Rodriquez Antwan Walker, 44, was later charged with felony homicide by vehicle, felony leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving and a central turning lane violation.
