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Pedestrian killed on FM 1626
A pedestrian was struck and killed Saturday night while walking down a narrow curve of FM 1626 in Manchaca. John Lamar Merritt, 50, of Athens, Texas, was pronounced dead at the scene by officials from the Austin Travis County EMS. The accident occurred at 9:39 p.m. Saturday night, according to the report from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). Merritt had been walking westbound on the eastbound unimproved shoulder at a curve in the road and was struck by a vehicle driving eastbound, said DPS spokesperson Tela Mange. The vehicle did not stop. "It was a hit and run," Mange said. "It's my understanding that we may have located the vehicle." Area residents have long called for improvements to FM 1626 both north and south of the Hays-Travis County line. Last November, Helena Pippins, a 17-year-old junior at Akins High School, died in a similar accident when she lost control of her vehicle on a curve of FM 1626 just north of the Hays County line and struck another vehicle head-on.
