Columbus man accused of waiting 90 minutes to call 911 pleads in pedestrian fatality
A Columbus pickup truck driver who was accused of waiting 90 minutes to report a crash that left a pedestrian dying on Buena Vista Road has pleaded guilty, according to court records.
Henry Lorenzo Cobb Jr. pleaded in the June 6, 2018, death of Diandre Setalsingh, who was hit around 10:45 p.m. as he walked in the outside lane of Buena Vista Road near Bradley Drive in midtown, police said.
Setalsingh, 31, was pronounced dead at 12:50 a.m., authorities said.
Cobb, 34, entered a “cold plea” before Superior Court Judge Maureen Gottfried, meaning no plea deal was negotiated between prosecutors and defense attorneys, so the judge alone will decide Cobb’s sentence.
A Muscogee County grand jury indicted Cobb on Nov. 6 on charges of homicide by vehicle, hit and run, failing to report an accident, and improper tires. The homicide charge was based on Cobb’s leaving the scene of the accident.
The indictment notes the statute of limitations would have expired on the latter two charges, had the deadline to file them not been extended by a judicial emergency declared during the COVID-19 crisis that shut down grand jury proceedings.
Gottfried set Cobb’s sentencing for Aug. 12, allowing time for a presentencing investigation.
Police said Cobb and a passenger had left their jobs at a Whittlesey Boulevard restaurant about 30 minutes before the accident. Cobb was driving a 2003 Chevy Silverado 1500 pickup south on Buena Vista Road when the truck hit Setalsingh, who was dressed in black and walking where the road was poorly lit, investigators said.
Damage to the truck indicated Setalsingh bounced off the hood before landing in the grass, police said.
They said Cobb took his passenger home before telling his father that he thought he had hit something.
During a preliminary hearing two days later in Columbus Recorder’s Court, the father said his son told him, “Dad, I think I hit something. I don’t know.”
The father called 911 when he and Cobb returned to the scene and saw Setalsingh, officers said.