FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Wayne County man has been sentenced to five years in prison after striking and killing a man along the West Virginia Turnpike in Fayette County last year.
According to Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Ciliberti Jr., Anthony W. Hay was sentenced Thursday, October 22, 2026, for felony aggravated vehicular homicide.
Circuit Court Judge W.E. Sam Fox II sentenced Hay to five years in prison and imposed a $20,000 fine. Hay must serve at least 15 months before becoming eligible for parole.
The five-year prison term is the maximum sentence allowed under state law for the offense.
The case stems from an October 3, 2025, crash on the West Virginia Turnpike that killed Jack D. Walter of Middlesex, North Carolina.
According to prosecutors, Walter was outside a disabled vehicle when he was struck by another vehicle. The driver responsible left the scene before law enforcement arrived.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from toll booths and cameras along the Turnpike, along with dash camera recordings from commercial vehicles traveling in the area.
The investigation led authorities to a commercial box truck operated by Hay.
When investigators contacted the trucking company that owned the vehicle, they learned that the truck was undergoing repairs for body damage Hay had reportedly attributed to striking a deer.
However, dash camera footage obtained from the trucking company showed Hay’s truck drifting from the right travel lane onto the shoulder, where it struck Walter and his vehicle.
Prosecutors said the footage also showed Hay repeatedly drifting onto the shoulder before the fatal collision, behavior they described as consistent with distracted driving.
Following the crash, Hay took steps to avoid being identified, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Investigators determined that Hay exited the Turnpike immediately before the Chelyan toll booth and traveled an alternate route back to his workplace.
Prosecutors also said Hay photographed deer that had been struck by another vehicle and altered the dates of those photographs to match the date of the fatal crash.
The West Virginia State Police investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Ciliberti.
