KINGSPORT — The suspect in a hit-and-run incident that claimed the life of a 40-year-old city man has been found dead in Scott County, Virginia, Kingsport police said.
The Kingsport Police Department issued a news release early Tuesday morning announcing that the body of Jesse D. Carey, 28, Kingsport, was discovered late Monday.
Carey was wanted in connection with the death of Stephen A. Jackson on Thursday.
According to the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to an abandoned home on A.P. Carter Highway Monday evening in an attempt to locate Carey.
As officers approached the home, they heard a gunshot. Officers went inside and found the body of Carey with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the SCSO said.
His body has been transported to the medical examiner’s office in Roanoke for an autopsy.
Carey faced charges of vehicular homicide by recklessness, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle collision resulting in death, failure to immediately report a motor vehicle collision, driving on a revoked license, and failure to exercise due care.
Police said Jackson was walking his dog on a sidewalk adjacent to Ridgefields Road when a red 2002 Subaru Impreza sedan swerved and hit them around 6:20 p.m. Thursday.
The driver fled the scene.
Jackson was seriously injured and taken to a local hospital for treatment, but he was pronounced dead shortly afterward.
His body has been sent to the William L. Jenkins Forensic Center of the ETSU James H. Quillen College of Medicine in Johnson City for a forensic autopsy.
The dog died at the scene, police said.
The vehicle involved in the hit-and-run was later located at a Church Hill residence, according to a news release.
Carey had been added to the TBI’s Most Wanted list on Monday night.
Kingsport police did not release any more details about Carey’s death.
