A 47-year-old man is dead after a street fight on Indianapolis' near east side ended with him in the roadway, where a passing vehicle struck him and the driver sped off without stopping. The Marion County Coroner's Office has ruled the death a homicide, and police are now hunting for two people who vanished from the scene: the person the victim was fighting with, and the motorist who hit him.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers responded to the first block of South State Avenue after a person was hit by a car, according to WISH-TV. Officers arrived to find the man in the roadway; he was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and died a short time after arriving, police said. The coroner's office identified him as Thomas Jeffery Woodford Jr. and determined he died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to a coroner's announcement reported by WIBC.
Detectives believe Woodford was involved in a disturbance before he ended up in the road and was struck, the station's report notes. WTHR reported that both the person Woodford was fighting with and the driver of the vehicle that hit him fled the scene, leaving investigators with two separate people to track down from the same incident. The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. on August 13, near South State Avenue just south of East Washington Street.
Two People Still Missing From the Scene
IMPD homicide detectives have asked the public for help identifying anyone who witnessed the fight or the crash, or who may have surveillance footage of either, per the same WTHR account. Investigators are relying on video and eyewitness accounts to identify both the person involved in the altercation with Woodford and the driver who left him in the road.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Christopher Morgan at the IMPD homicide office at 317-327-3475, or reach him by email at [email protected].
What Indiana Law Says About Leaving the Scene
Under Indiana Code § 9-26-1-1.1, failing to stop at the scene of a crash that results in death is a Level 4 felony, punishable by two to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to FindLaw. That charge is elevated to a Level 3 felony — carrying up to 16 years in prison — if investigators can prove the driver knowingly fled while under the influence or intoxicated.
Marion County prosecutors also frequently file reckless homicide alongside hit-and-run charges in fatal crash cases. That charge, a Level 5 felony under Indiana Code § 35-42-1-5, carries a sentence of one to six years, court records reviewed in a separate case reported by WTHR show. No charges have been filed in Woodford's death as the investigation continues.
A Corridor With a Violent History
South State Avenue has seen repeated fatal hit-and-runs in recent years. In May 2025, WTHR reported that a driver ran a red light at South State Avenue and East Raymond Street — blocks from where Woodford was killed — striking and killing 4-year-old Alan Marcelo Salas-Garcia and critically injuring two adults before fleeing. The driver in that case was later arrested and charged with reckless homicide.
Just months before Woodford's death, a police chase in May 2026 ended in a fatal crash near East Washington Street and South State Avenue, prompting the Marion County Prosecutor's Office to file Level 3 and Level 5 felony charges against a 21-year-old driver. The stretch sits within what regional planners call the High Injury Network — roughly 5 percent of Marion County street corridors that account for nearly half of all fatal and severe crashes, according to 2026 safety data published by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The city's Vision Zero program recorded 33 traffic fatalities in 2026 as officials work toward eliminating traffic deaths altogether by 2035, per tracking data from the City of Indianapolis. Woodford's death adds another entry to a near east side corridor that has already drawn scrutiny from city planners and prosecutors alike.
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