A suspect was indicted this week in an alleged DUI crash that killed a Forsyth County man who was riding a lawnmower in his yard last year, prosecutors said.
Kenneth Johnson was arrested in June 2022 after he lost control of his vehicle and struck 68-year-old Paul Michael Nix, who was cutting grass at his residence on Hopewell Road, police said. Nix died at the scene.
On Monday, a Forsyth grand jury indicted Johnson on four counts of first-degree vehicular homicide, three counts of driving under the influence and one count of reckless driving, according to court records. He was speeding, failed to maintain his lane and drove “under the combined influence of alcohol and THC to the extent that it was less safe for him to drive,” the indictment alleged.
Nix was outside his Cumming home around 4 p.m. that day when he was hit by the white Ford Fusion that failed to negotiate a curve near Church Road, Forsyth sheriff’s office spokeswoman Stacie Miller said at the time. Johnson, who was 22, suffered minor injuries in the wreck.
As responding deputies investigated the scene, they found Johnson’s cellphone on the ground outside the car. The device was unlocked with the text screen still active, according to Miller.
“It appeared Mr. Johnson was replying to a text at the time of the crash,” Miller added.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Deputies performed a field sobriety test and determined Johnson was not sober while driving, the sheriff’s office said.
He was booked into the Forsyth County Jail on charges of first-degree vehicular homicide, DUI, reckless driving, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain his lane and texting while driving, according to authorities.
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