A man was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide after investigators said he hit two pedestrians with his car on the Downtown Connector and drove off.

Jose M. Garcia-Trujillo, 25, was taken into custody Monday morning after the alleged hit-and-run, Atlanta police said.

The pedestrians were hit and killed in the northbound lanes of the interstate just north of Edgewood Avenue shortly after 5 a.m., according to police.

The two people were involved in an earlier accident near Andrew Young International Boulevard, police said.

They were hit by a Ford Explorer after they stepped out of their vehicles to survey the damage. The driver of the Ford, later identified as Garcia-Trujillo, left the scene, police said.

Authorities arrived at the scene of the deadly crash about 5 a.m.
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The Ford was later found near I-85 and Piedmont Avenue, police said.

The investigation closed the roadway for nearly three hours and the lanes reopened just before 8 a.m., the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center reported. The closures caused hours of major delays through downtown and Midtown.

There were major northbound delays Monday morning while police investigated the deadly hit-and-run on the Downtown Connector.

Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

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Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

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Parents and students arrive for the first day of school at Harmony Elementary School in Buford on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023. (Natrice Miller/AJC)