Police searching for driver after Ridgeland woman killed in hit and run. What’s known
Police are searching for a driver involved in a Jasper County hit and run that killed a 27-year-old woman last week.
The body of Markeshia DuPont, of Ridgeland, was found on the side of S.C. 336 near the Tilman-Wagon Branch Community Center around 6 a.m. on July 31.
Although the incident appeared to be a hit and run, S.C. Highway Patrol did not confirm that until Thursday, almost a week after DuPont’s death.
An unknown vehicle was traveling east on S.C. 336 as a pedestrian — later identified by the county coroner as DuPont — was walking in the same direction around 11:30 p.m. on July 30, a Highway Patrol spokesperson Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell said Thursday.
The vehicle “struck the pedestrian then left the scene,” he said.
No information about the vehicle or any suspected drivers was released. No arrests had been made as of Friday morning.
The incident is actively being investigated by the Highway Patrol with assistance from its Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team.
Tidwell said more information will be released in the case as it becomes available.
DuPont was remembered by family as a as a fierce protector, hard worker and great dancer.
“She didn’t deserve the way she passed,” her cousin Thaddeus Smith said. “I honestly do believe that the people who hit Markeshia knew they hit her, and they should have stopped. She didn’t deserve to die the way she did.”
