News

Driver sentenced to prison in pedestrian fatality

Jason Ryan Blackwell

By Bill Moss, Published: February 2, 2025

A 47-year-old man pleaded guilty last week to voluntary manslaughter in the death of a pedestrian struck and killed on Spartanburg Highway in October 2023, District Attorney R. Andrew Murray announced.

According to the investigation, in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, 2023, Blackwell struck a pedestrian after driving his pickup truck off the road and onto the grass shoulder of the road in Flat Rock. The investigation showed that the impact caused the victim to fly up onto the hood. After impact, Blackwell drove back onto the roadway, where the victim fell off the truck, the D.A. said in a news release.

An investigation by State Highway Patrol trooper Eric Noblett showed that Blackwell had pulled the victim from the road onto the grass by the roadside and then left the scene, prosecutors said. When law officers found and arrested Blackwell, the driver made statements indicating that he had hit someone. Based on Blackwell’s slurred speech, erratic behavior and extreme drowsiness, the officers formed the opinion that he was impaired at the time of his arrest. Bloodwork from a laboratory analysis showed the presence of Xanax and marijuana.

Superior Court Judge William Stetzer on Jan. 27 sentenced Jason Ryan Blackwell to up to 11 years in prison during a session of criminal court. Assistant District Attorneys Lily Ferry and Michael Van Buren handled the prosecution and sentencing in the case.