A passerby driving along Longbranch Road in rural Lewis County found a man lying in the roadway around 4 a.m. Thursday and called 911, only for officers to discover evidence that he had been struck by a vehicle whose driver never stopped. The man died as a result of the crash, and the driver who hit him remains unidentified and at large.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol issued an emergency public appeal Thursday for information about the fatal hit-and-run, confirming the crash occurred near the 200 block of Longbranch Road in Lewis County, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol.
. As first reported by
WZTV
Officers responding to the scene found evidence that the man had been struck by a vehicle.
Troopers are asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has information about the vehicle or driver to call the agency's emergency dispatch communications center at 615-986-4986, extension 0, per the station's report. The identity of the man who died has not been released, and no suspect vehicle description has been made public.
A Legal Reckoning Awaits Whoever Fled
Whoever was behind the wheel now faces serious criminal exposure under Tennessee law. A driver involved in a fatal crash who fails to stop, despite knowing or reasonably having known that death resulted, commits a Class E felony and is subject to mandatory license revocation, according to Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-10-101 as outlined by FindLaw.
That exposure grew significantly this year. Under Tennessee's James Bardsley, Jr. Life Protection Act, which took effect July 1, leaving the scene of a fatal crash now carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year served at 100 percent, plus fines between $5,000 and $10,000, as Hoodline previously reported. Separately, Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-10-103 requires any driver involved in an injury or fatal collision to provide identification, show a license upon request, and render reasonable aid such as arranging medical transportation, obligations that apply regardless of fault, according to Palmer Law, PLC.
Tennessee Traffic Fatalities
The circumstances of Thursday's crash line up with patterns seen nationally in pedestrian deaths. Nearly one in four pedestrians killed in U.S. traffic crashes, 24 percent, was struck by a driver who fled the scene, according to 2024 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The same federal data shows that 76 percent of pedestrian fatalities occur in dark conditions and 73 percent happen away from intersections, factors that align with a man found in the roadway hours before sunrise.
Statewide, Tennessee recorded 1,045 traffic fatalities in 2025, a 14 percent drop from the 1,194 recorded in 2024, according to year-end figures from the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, a decline officials tied largely to urban safety initiatives even as rural fatalities also fell.
Investigators Continue Seeking Leads
For now, investigators have not said whether any home security cameras along Longbranch Road or Highway 48 South captured a vehicle in the area around the time of the crash, leaving the search for the driver an open question as troopers continue appealing to the public for leads.
