A Forsyth County man who was using a riding lawnmower in his front yard Wednesday afternoon was hit and killed by a car whose driver was later charged with vehicular homicide, authorities said.
Paul Michael Nix, 68, of Cumming, was mowing his lawn at his home on Hopewell Road around 4 p.m. when he was hit by a white Ford Fusion that failed to negotiate a curve near Church Road, Forsyth sheriff’s office spokeswoman Stacie Miller said. Nix was pronounced dead at the scene.
The car’s driver, 22-year-old Kenneth Johnson, suffered minor injuries in the crash, the sheriff’s office said. As responding deputies investigated the scene, they found Johnson’s cellphone on the ground outside the car, unlocked and with the text screen active, according to Miller.
“It appeared Mr. Johnson was replying to a text at the time of the crash,” Miller said.
Deputies performed a field sobriety test on Johnson during the investigation and determined that he was not sober while driving, the sheriff’s office said.
Johnson was arrested and charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, DUI, reckless driving, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain his lane and texting while driving, according to the sheriff’s office. He was booked into the Forsyth County Jail, where he remains without bond, online records show.
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