Frank Lewis

PDT Staff Writer

Scioto County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn says he is still working on the case of a woman who is accused of driving the vehicle that struck a man riding a bicycle in December.

That man later died at a regional hospital. According to the original report, Shawn R. Hamilton, 22, was riding southbound on Ohio 522, just north of Mill Road when he was struck by a vehicle that was also southbound. The bicyclist was forced off the road and ejected from the bicycle. The vehicle continued on. The bicyclist was airlifted from the scene to Cabell Huntington Hospital.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol Post Commander Lt. Karla Taulbee, the driver of the 2006 Buick Rendezvous was Melissa J. Spears, 51, of Franklin Furnace. Taulbee said Spears’ attorney contacted the post on Dec. 5, 2012, two days after Hamilton was struck and a day after Hamilton died.

“She went to her lawyer and she had her lawyer contact us, and we went and talked to her,” Taulbee said. “We went to her lawyer’s office and met up with her there. Then she took us to her house to get the vehicle. She has been very cooperative.”

Kuhn said he is putting the finishing touches on the case and has not made a decision what, if any, charges will be filed.

“The State Patrol brought the felony packet in last week,” Kuhn said. “I know that we are still waiting on an additional witness statement on that case that I talked to the trooper about when he brought it in. He was going to work on that over the weekend and this week to try to get that. And we’re in the process of reviewing what they brought in. We know the felony packet is short at least one witness statement because a witness called this office and said no one had ever talked to him, and we asked them (OSHP) to get a statement from him.”

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 252, or at flewis@civitasmedia.com