Authorities ID man who died as truck hit Columbus apartment, fire erupted
Columbus police have launched an investigation into a man’s death after the truck he was driving crashed into a midtown apartment that caught fire Saturday, authorities said.
Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan identified the deceased as 44-year-old Jerry Walton, who was pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m. after his burned body was removed from the pickup truck.
Columbus police said officers were called at 9:54 p.m. to an accident with injuries at Village Square apartments, 1441 Boxwood Blvd., off Macon Road behind the Columbus Public Library. They found the building afire after the truck crash, according to a department news release.
In a text to reporters Sunday, Bryan wrote: “The truck was entirely inside the apartment. Multiple fire trucks, firemen, police and detectives were on the scene.”
Columbus Fire Marshal John Shull said firefighters arrived on the scene at 10 p.m., reporting heavy smoke. The Red Cross was to aid any residents displaced by the damage, he said.
The coroner said he suspects Walton’s death to be a homicide, having found an apparent bullet wound on the right side of Walton’s skull. Bryan believes Walton was shot as he tried to leave the truck, which rolled downhill into the apartment, he texted.
The coroner decides whether a death is a homicide, but Columbus police have not confirmed those details, and on Sunday said they’d begun a death investigation, but not a homicide probe.
Bryan said a Georgia Bureau of Investigation autopsy will decide whether Walton died from a shooting or another cause.
Police asked that anyone with information on the incident contact Detective A. Moyer at 706-225-4435 or amoyer@columbusga.org.
This story was originally published August 14, 2022 at 2:38 PM.