By CHARLES OWENS
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
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RICHLANDS, Va. — A Tazewell County man remains incarcerated on charges of involuntary manslaughter and hit and run in connection with a weekend accident that claimed the life of a Cedar Bluff woman. Rodney Shane Browning, 39, of Cedar Bluff, was arrested by authorities in Russell County early Sunday morning after he fled the scene of what became a pedestrian fatality on U.S. Route 19 in Tazewell County near the campus of Southwest Virginia Community College, according to Captain Anne Hickman of the Tazewell County Sheriff’s Office. Natalee Jean McCall Knighten, 31, of Cedar Bluff, originally a passenger in Browning’s vehicle, fled the vehicle following an apparent argument with the man, and was struck and killed as a pedestrian a short-time later by Browning’s vehicle, Hickman said. “There was a domestic situation occurring in the truck, she got out to walk, he tried to get her back in the truck, and couldn’t,” Hickman said. “We got calls into the dispatch that she was trying to flag someone down to pick her up. What happened is he went back there to pick her up, she was in the road, and he struck her. Then he left the scene, and traveled southbound before he was stopped by a deputy.” Hickman said Browning told police he didn’t mean to strike the woman with his vehicle. “That is why he is charged with involuntary manslaughter,” Hickam said. “He says he didn’t strike her voluntarily.” Hickman said authorities were initially contacted at 12:40 a.m. Sunday morning about the woman attempting to flag down traffic on the four lane. Hickman said the woman died from injuries sustained from being struck by Browning’s truck. “The initial call said she was trying to wave down traffic,” Hickman said. “Our deputies responded in an effort to help her.” However, the woman was found by the deputies deceased on the four-lane approximately a half-mile from the campus of SWCC. Hickman said Browning remains incarcerated in the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail of Tazewell without bond. The man is expected to be arraigned later this week on the charges of hit and run and involuntary manslaughter. Hickman said the Virginia State Police are assisting with the investigation and helped with the accident reconstruction. — Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com