The victim of a downtown automobile accident has died, and the man allegedly responsible for hitting him has been arrested under felony murder charges.
Ryan Jay Koehn, 26, of Columbus, died Friday night around 8 p.m. in Memphis at Regional One Medical Center. Koehn suffered severe injuries after his vehicle was struck by Tristan Blake Atkinson, 22, Wednesday night on the corner of Fifth Street and Main Street, Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said. Atkinson was being pursued by Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Atkinson was taken into custody and issued a $500,000 bond by Justice Court Judge Peggy Phillips after a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Merchant told The Dispatch Saturday morning that Koehn’s body would be transported back to Columbus and an autopsy would be requested to assist with the investigation by MHP.
“I’m having the body transported back as we speak basically,” Merchant said Saturday.
Atkinson led MHP troopers on a chase Wednesday night after refusing to pull over for speeding on Highway 182 east of Columbus. The chase ended downtown when Atkinson collided with a 2012 Ford F-150 driven by Koehn. Koehn was heading south on Fifth Street when he was hit, MHP Staff Sgt. Derrick Beckom said.
Koehn was airlifted from the Roger Short Soccer Complex and flown to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo and later to Regional One Medical Center in Memphis. Atkinson was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle with non-life-threatening injuries and later arrested.
Atkinson was initially charged with driving under the influence-first offense, fleeing or eluding, improper passing, speeding 30 miles an hour over the speed limit, seatbelt violation, reckless driving, driving without headlights, no license tag, two counts of improper passing and five counts of disobeying a traffic control device.
Beckom said new charges could be coming due to the death, but none have been filed because the crash is still under investigation.
“Because this is an ongoing investigation, as of right now, we haven’t changed any charges,” Beckom said.
As of Monday afternoon, a GoFundMe initially set up to help with Koehn’s medical expenses had raised more than $43,000.
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