Suspect in fatal I-75 hit-and-run in Moraine back in Ohio

May 16—A suspect in a hit-and-run crash on Interstate 75 in Moraine last month that killed a 20-year-old pedestrian from Franklin was extradited from Kentucky on an unrelated warrant.

The 37-year-old Dayton man has not been charged in connection to the crash reported around 12:15 a.m. April 21 on I-75 South near the Dryden Road exit in a construction zone. However, police identified his white 2021 Ram 2500 pickup truck as the one that struck Emily Ryan who was standing outside a broken down car, Moraine police Sgt. Andrew Parish said previously.

Police used GPS data to track the truck to a campground in Oldham County, Kentucky. Florence police arrested the suspect April 25 on a warrant out of Montgomery County for a probation violation. The man's truck was seized and he also was charged in Kentucky through Boone County Circuit Court with operating a motor vehicle under influence, operating on suspended or revoked license and possession of open alcohol beverage container in motor vehicle, records show.

This newspaper is not naming the suspect because he has not been charged in the fatality. He was held in the Boone County Jail but was booked Friday into the Montgomery County Jail on a warrant issued July 28, 2022, by Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Melnick.

She granted the man treatment in lieu of conviction just 10 days before the warrant was issued in a felony drug possession case after his probation officer notified the court that the man's whereabouts had been unknown since the July 18 hearing, court records show.

Probation officer Lawrance Dudgeon notified Melnick of the man's April 25 arrest in Kentucky and that he was facing charges there, in addition to his possible involvement in the crash that killed Ryan.

"The Moraine Police Department is currently investigating a deadly hit and run accident that occurred on April 21, 2023, and have named ... as the suspect. Based on the information above, it is respectfully recommended that he remain in custody," Dudgeon wrote.

According to the crash report, the Ram 2500 struck the 2011 Kia Rio that Ryan had been driving and then also hit Ryan.

Where the car broke down there was not a shoulder or safety zone to get it off the highway, Parish said previously.