Pedestrian Struck, Killed While Crossing Brookshire Freeway; Driver Charged With DWI

WFAE | By Jodie Valade

Published October 19, 2019 at 3:25 PM EDT

A 25-year-old man was killed after he was struck by a car in a poorly lit area of Brookshire Freeway early Saturday morning, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said. The driver of the car has been charged with DWI.

Deonte Lamar Wilkins was crossing Brookshire Freeway between Graham Street and I-77 about 2:36 a.m. Saturday when he was struck by a car driven by 30-year-old Tucker Ryan Rhodes, police said.

Police said Rhodes was unable to avoid hitting Wilkins in the dimly lit area. Wilkins was pronounced dead at the scene.

Excessive speed was not a factor in the crash, CMPD said. The crash remains under investigation.

Rhodes was charged with DWI and transported to Mecklenburg County Jail.

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Jodie Valade

Jodie Valade has been a Digital News and Engagement Editor for WFAE since 2019. Since moving to Charlotte in 2015, she has worked as a digital content producer for NASCAR.com and a freelance writer for publications ranging from Charlotte magazine to The Athletic to The Washington Post and New York Times. Before that, Jodie was an award-winning sports features and enterprise reporter at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. She also worked at The Dallas Morning News covering the Dallas Mavericks — where she became Mark Cuban's lifelong email pen pal — and at The Kansas City Star. She has a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Master of Education from John Carroll University. She is originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan.

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