UPDATE: Lafayette Police Make Arrest in Fatal Hit-and-Run on Evangeline Thruway
The Lafayette Police Department is asking for your help as they continue to investigate a fatal hit-and-run that took place Sunday, January 2 on Evangeline Thruway.
UPDATE: The Lafayette Police Department has arrested Justin Douglas Nini (44) of Lafayette for the hit-and-run fatality that occurred on January 2, 2022.
Nini was arrested and booked into Lafayette Correctional Center on one count of felony hit-and-run. According to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office website, Nini is due in court on Monday, Jan 10.
ORIGINAL STORY: Around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, Lafayette Police responded to a hit and run vehicle crash involving a pedestrian in the 2100 block of Evangeline Thruway. According to a release from LPD, a woman was attempting to cross Northwest Evangeline Thruway when she was struck by a vehicle traveling southbound.
The vehicle did not stop after striking the woman and continued traveling southbound on the Thruway. Police identified the deceased woman as 30-year-old Raven Charles of Opelousas.
Originally, information obtained by eyewitnesses described a "gray or silver pickup truck with tinted windows.
Today, Lafayette Police said they have gathered new information about the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run fatality with the help of surveillance video. The vehicle currently at the center of their investigation is described as a white Ford Fusion with front-end damage falling between the model years of 2013-2016.
LPD's traffic division continues to investigate this situation and will provide still images when available, but in the meantime, if you or anyone has any information on this vehicle please contact the Lafayette Police Department or Lafayette Crime Stoppers at 232-TIPS.