Driver hits, kills 20-year-old man with special needs on July 4, police say

NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies are searching for a driver witnesses say intentionally ran over and killed a young man with special needs on the Fourth of July.

The crash happened in Newton County on Thursday evening. Witnesses said Joshua Anderson got in a fight with Kevin Marshall, 20, at a home on North Lake Drive.

Witnesses said Marshall left the home and started walking down the street. That's when Anderson sped down the road in his truck and crashed into Marshall as he walked home.

Marshall died at the scene.  Anderson drove away, police said.

Police are now searching for Anderson.

Channel 2's Tom Jones talked to Marshall's heartbroken mother, who said her son had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the mind of a 13-year-old.

Robbie Marshall said her son wouldn't hurt a fly.

He had special needs. His mother says he wouldn't hurt a fly. Now he is dead after deputies say a man hit him and drove away. What witnesses say happened right before that. That's coming up at 5. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/gx9JvfkPMV

— Tom Jones (@TomJonesWSBTV) July 5, 2019

"He wasn't doing anything! He was on his way home," Robbie Marshall said. "He was such a sweet boy. He wouldn't harm nobody."

Robbie Marshall said the coroner told her that her son died on impact.

Joyce Canup saw the collision.

"I bet (Anderson) was going 100," Canup said. "He hit the guy, and when he hit him, he flew up over the truck."

Samantha Browning said Anderson is her sister's  boyfriend and that he was at her home before the crash.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make them stop fighting," Browning said. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect him from being hurt."

Browning said Anderson thought Marshall disrespected him.

"And then the next thing I know, I heard a boom, and I thought he wrecked his truck," Browning said. "When I got down there, that kid was laying on the ground."

Robbie Marshall said it wasn't like her son to get in fights.

"He said that he was being disrespectful," Robbie Marshall said. "Kevin's never been disrespectful to anyone."

Robbie Marshall said she wants Anderson caught and put behind bars.

"I want him to be punished for what he's done to my son," Robbie Marshall said. "Because to me, that is premeditated murder."

Robbie Marshall is disappointed it took the Newton County Sheriff's Office until Friday to put out a "be on the lookout" for Anderson.

She had a simple message for her son's accused killer.

"Turn yourself in," Robbie Marshall said. "If you weren't guilty, why did you run?"

Anderson faces charges of first-degree vehicular homicide, serious injury by vehicle and hit-and-run.

He was last seen in a 2001 extended cab Toyota Tacoma with Georgia tag DFG633. Police said he is considered armed and dangerous.

The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information to contact them.

Cox Media Group