Merced woman killed, second pedestrian death of the night in county

A 21-year-old Merced woman was killed Thursday, the second pedestrian to be killed in the same night in Merced County.

Officers were called around 6 p.m. to the area of Ashby and Trindad roads, west of the Beachwood/Franklin area on the outskirts of Merced, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Two witnesses told investigators they’d seen the woman, who was wearing dark-colored clothing, lying “face down and motionless” on the eastbound traffic lane of Ashby Road, Officer Moises Onsurez said.

The witnesses tried to flag down motorists, but the driver of a 2000 Toyota Scion did not see them or the woman in the road. “The driver of the Scion hit her without knowing she was in the road,” Onsurez told the Sun-Star.

The driver, a 30-year-old Merced man, was not injured. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name was not released pending notification of her family.

She was the second pedestrian killed Thursday night in Merced County.

A Latino man in his 40s, whose name also was not released, was struck by a pickup truck around 5:15 p.m. in the area of Winton Way and Santa Fe Drive in Winton. The driver of the pickup truck fled after the crash and officers are searching for him. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

This story was originally published December 1, 2016 at 10:11 PM with the headline "Merced woman killed, second pedestrian death of the night in county."