Pedestrian was left alone for 90 minutes after crash on Buena Vista Road, police said

Police weren’t called until 90 minutes after Henry Lorenzo Cobb Jr. hit something on Buena Vista Road, took a female passenger home and told his father about the crash near Bradley Drive, Columbus police testified Friday in Recorder’s Court.

Cobb, 31, pleaded not guilty to one count each of felony homicide by vehicle first degree, failure to report accident with death, hit and run, and improper tires on vehicle in the death of 30-year-old Diandre Setalsingh. Judge Julius Hunter set bond at $25,000 on the more serious homicide by vehicle charge and bound it over to Muscogee Superior Court.

Assistant district attorney Matt Brown said the victim was left alone on the side of the road and may have been saved if emergency medical technicians were called. “He might be alive,” Brown said.

After the hearing, defense attorney Mark Shelnutt said it’s a tragedy someone lost his life. “We have to get results back to see exactly what was going on there,” he said.

The attorney said the man told his father, retired sheriff deputy Henry Cobb Sr., that he’d hit something, and they drove back to the area. “I think we’re going to have some time discrepancy,” Shelnutt said.

There was never any intent to run away and hide, Shelnutt said. “They were the first ones back,” he said. “There is no intention to run away and hide. He is the one with his dad to call 911. “

Officer Ben Shuler, who investigated the crash, told the court how it took 90 minutes before police were called after the crash. He said Cobb and a female passenger both left Newks Eatery where they worked on Whittlesey Boulevard about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday. Cobb believes the crash occurred about 10:45 p.m.

Shuler said Cobb was driving a blue 2003 Chevy Silverado 1500 pickup southeast on Buena Vista. Dressed in black on a poorly lighted street, Setalsingh was walking in the roadway in the outside lane when he was struck with the front of the vehicle.

Based on the damage to the vehicle, Setalsingh landed on the hood before stopping in the grass, Shuler said. Cobb turned the vehicle around and returned to the scene.

In his initial statement to police, Cobb said he didn’t know what he hit. The passenger later told police that when they returned to the area, she saw the pedestrian on the ground and he was moving.

The senior Cobb said he and his son went to the area after he was told, “Dad, I think I hit something. I don’t know.”

After arriving at 13th Avenue and Bradley Drive, the older Cobb said he called police after seeing the person in all black. “It was very dark,” Cobb Sr. said. “I called 911.”

The person he saw wasn’t moving, the father said.

In describing the pickup, Shuler said the two rear tires were bald. The tread on the front were below the legal tread depth.

Setalsingh was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:50 a.m. Thursday.

“I hate it,” Shelnutt said. “Tragedies happen but they are not always crimes.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2018 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Pedestrian was left alone for 90 minutes after crash on Buena Vista Road, police said."