A driver didn't realize the extent of what had happened when he ignored a stop signal Wednesday night in Johnston County, his lawyer says.
Ronald Thomas Mayo, 44, of Smithfield, was charged with felony hit-and-run. The State Highway Patrol says Mayo's truck got tangled in a low-hanging wire, causing a man working on the line to fall.
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James P. Rudzki, 29, of Wendell, a lineman with Pike Electric died in the fall.
Mayo's lawyer told the court on Friday that he learned of the consequences only after his mother saw it on television.
He planned to surrender to authorities before he was arrested Thursday night, the lawyer said.
Mayo was stoic in his first court appearance Friday. His family plans to post bond.
Meanwhile Rudzki's family is shaken and hopes for justice.
His mother, Krystal Brown, said her first thought was "that it couldn't have been, couldn't have been my James."
Brown described her son as a family man and a father with plans to marry his girlfriend.
"James truly loved being a lineman. He worked hard to get through school and to be able to have that job," she said.