Columbus driver pleads in 2015 hit-and-run that killed Kendrick student

A Columbus man has pleaded guilty in the Aug. 5, 2015, pedestrian death of a Kendrick High School student who was hit as he walked along Steam Mill Road.

Edward James Law, 30, pleaded to homicide by vehicle and other charges Monday in the death of 17-year-old Romel Dill, whose body was found around 7 a.m. on the side of Steam Mill Road between McCartha Drive and Dogwood Drive.

Police believe Dill had been walking home on Steam Mill Road when Law’s 2009 Volvo S40 struck him around midnight. Law did not stop, and later told police he thought he had hit a mailbox, authorities said.

He surrendered the next day after hearing a TV news broadcast describe the vehicle investigators believed was involved in Dill’s death.

His attorney, Stacey Jackson, said that stretch of Steam Mill Road had no street lights in 2015, so it was “pitch black.” Law after the impact saw no blood or other evidence that he had hit a pedestrian, Jackson told Judge Bobby Peters: “Mr. Law didn’t know he had hit a person.”

The city since has installed street lights along the road, Jackson said.

Law pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle – based on his having left the accident scene – and to driving while his license was suspended, failing to maintain his traffic lane, hit and run, failing to report the accident, and showing no proof of insurance. He will be sentenced later.

Jackson said the insurance charge is based on Law’s having left the scene instead of staying to show police his proof of insurance. The car was insured, Jackson said.

Asked if he wanted to make a statement, Law said only, “I’m sorry.”

Relatives described Dill as smart athletic student who played baseball for Kendrick. He was buried in his hometown of Chicago.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Columbus driver pleads in 2015 hit-and-run that killed Kendrick student."