Thanks to all for posting the facts. Vera Sohovich

Prayers go out to both families involved. Glad there is more facts, now maybe people can stop being so hateful & inconsiderate. This is a very tragic incident for everyone involved!

All media outlets who reported misinformation about this story need to print the facts as the Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch has reported. Previous reports were a rush to judgement and this should be a lesson to report the facts. A formal apology should be made to this young man and his family. It is a tragedy that perhaps could have been avoided after all the 911 calls that were denied in earlier reports by the police and the fact that this man was not physically removed from the roadway by the police. Instead a young man and his family have been demonized by multiple sources when this incident clearly could have been avoided. My prayers go out to the Sohovich family and to the victims' family.

Are you KIDDING me? Now he's saying he "may have been" the one who hit him? What did he hit another person as well?

Mr. Miagi, go back go back read the other articles from this accidentaccident, then come back and apologize for what you just posted.

From the Police description of the vehicle. "The vehicle should have significant damage to the passenger side, including the grille, bumper, windshield and mirror."

**Scratching Head** If the victim was walking down the center line of the roadway then how did the driver strike him on the passenger's side of the vehicle? All the damage was on the passengers side. The damage the vehicle sustained is as one would expect to find with a pedestrian that was struck on the shoulder of the road, not center.

There's definitely more to this story than the driver is revealing.

I was just thinking the same thing; sounds like an attempt at a big cover-up. So sad for the deceased man, he was clearly someone's son, brother, maybe father? It is such a shame the driver wasn't raised to follow the law. One would think that common sense alone would lead you to call 911 immediately and stay with the man, or the "dark object that landed on his windshield, smashing it, that flew off as he was traveling at 53 mph,” vs. “stopping his car, getting out, and listened for any noise, hearing nothing, seeing nothing, then leaving". I wonder what kind of noise one "should" make when being hit by a car?!?!?!?!

Once again we have these armchair detectives and their outlandish theories. They wouldn't know the truth if it bit them in the butt. I find the young man's story quite credible. The man might not have been in the middle of the road at the time he was struck, but could still have been in the travel lane rather than on the shoulder, where it would have been relatively safe to walk. In this instance I think it's quite reasonable to blame the victim--assuming the police were satisfied that the man obeyed their orders to get out of the road. Anyone walking down the middle of that road at any time, but especially at night, seems to have been irrational. It's safe to assume that he continued to defy death after the police had departed.

WOW! I saw this link on Facebook and cannot believe the ignorance of people JUSTIFYING this kids hit & run? So, from now on anyone who is wearing dark clothes or walking at night DESERVES to be killed? I guess it’s okay if he was homeless or drunk or on drugs? Maybe they should do an autopsy on the deceased man that way if he had alcohol in his system, all you all can say “oh well that makes sense, bless his heart”. Too bad they can’t do an autopsy on the driver…oh, yea that’s right they can’t because he is alive! And now (conveniently) it is too late to do a drug/alcohol screen on him. What is wrong with you people? Is it small town disease? And calling the driver a VICTIM? More like a COWARD!

This sounds more plausible to me... A 20 year old (possibly under the influence) driving home from work takes his eyes off the road as he comes upon a pedestrian walking along the shoulder. Because the driver is not looking forward the car drifts to the right striking the pedestrian. He does quite a bit of damage as he bounces off the vehicle and onto the grassy shoulder of the road. The kid stops, gets out, and walks back to see what he just struck. After finding a dying man laying there he panics and flees the scene. The next morning, after a sleepless night, he checks the social media sites and learns that the person was found dead. Now he begins to formulate his story. Later on in the evening he reads where the police released an exact description of his damaged vehicle, including year, make, model, and color. Knowing it's just a matter of time before he's discovered, he turns himself in.

-- Armchair Detective

Since you saw this link on Facebook, chances are you're not familiar with Rt 2 in that area. It is unlighted and notorious for deer running across the road. If a car is approaching you from the opposite direction, you will be momentarily blinded to anything in the road other than the headlights of the other car. Nobody has claimed that the deceased was drunk or on drugs or that he deserved to be killed, but the fact that witnesses, including the police, have documented that he was walking down the middle of the road for a length of time, is evidence that he was not where he was supposed to be. If we are sypathetic toward the driver, it's because we can put ourselves in a similar situation and wonder if we would have acted differently after hitting what we thought was a deer. Just because it's a "kid", doesn't mean he's in the wrong.

Small town disease? Wow. So I guess if we were city folk we wouldn't think this way, huh? The driver is a victim as well as the man who was struck and killed. Regardless of all the possible scenarios any one can come up with the fact still remains and always will remain that it was an accident.... And as for seeing the man on the shoulder, he was found on a grassy bank in what most would consider to be a ditch. I am one of these small town folk who know that there are NO street lights. Yes its a small town and things are different here for sure. But it doesn't mean that we don't have sympathy for a dead man or that we think he was asking for it or deserved to die. Think before you post things.

D.W. Im not a friend of the family actually. Just a stupid closed minded hick, with no sense at all, and no regard for human life. Just another small town person with this illness that makes me have the need to defend people who are so clearly intoxicated and hit someone on purpose and tried to cover it up. Gosh, I wish all us small town county folk weren't so darn stupid.

I have been following this story and I have to say this story certainly has "evolved" since the accident. It really appears that there is something a miss here. I do hope that there is closure for the victim and a lesson learned that we cannot just leave the scene of an accident without reporting it to the authorities especially when there is an ounce of doubt as to what their vehicle hit, one should never just assume it was an animal and further investigation was needed especially with the kind of massage damage to the car. This should be a lesson for all of us. No ones life is worthless even a homeless person who has no address. He was a living, breathing human being and should be shown some diginity, we dont know what his life was about or why he was walking the street late at night.

Got one question...they say an "officer addressed the man", so why didn't the authority get this person in their patrol car and take the victim home?

I think it should be mentioned that the police were looking for a vehicle which they expected to have "significant damage to the passenger side", but it doesn't state anywhere that the young man's car had such damage. Since it was a suspected hit and run, it would be natural to expect that the victim was on the shoulder and struck by the passenger side of the vehicle. This may not have been the case, particularly since the driver said his windshield was struck. It's quite possible the victim was still in or near the middle of the road. There is nothing in this article to contradict that scenario.

DW you're just an idiot, most likely hiding behind that alias because you have a grudge against this family of some sort, just like "just sayin", or perhaps you are even her too. The bottom line is that unless you were in that situation, at that moment in time, NONE of us knows what happened nor what we have done. Hope you never make a mistake whether walking or driving, but hope if you do you don't face the same kind of condemnation you are proposing on this case. Stay out of it. May God bless the soul of this man and may He help the driver cope with this tragedy.

And maybe the man was in the roadway and the driver swerved to the left to miss him as another who called 911 had to do. Thank God there was no oncoming traffic. Because at one point or another he was literally in the middle does not mean that's where he was at all times. Afterall there are eyewitnesses that he was out there for at least 2 hours.

No actually I'm not, so goes to show how ignorant you are.

There is an inconsistency. In the original article on Patch, Ms. Sohovich said:
Vera James Sohovich
12:16 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
thank you, Gerald. Stuart is a waiter, just off of his shift, minding his own business driving home from work. He came upon this person shortly after you. He thought he hit a deer, as he had glanced down for a moment. He stopped, pulled over, checked the area looking for a deer. He even turned the car around, looking for what he hit. Not finding anything, he presumed the deer ran off and came home. when he learned of the person killed, he immediately went to the soco police barracks and reported it and turned in his vehicle. He is distraught beyond words. it is a terrible tragedy for the victim and for Stuart.

Yet in the Capital article (http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/for_the_record/mom-of-hit-and-run-suspect-he-thought-he-hit/article_7b65cb5c-f068-5ef2-a1af-668c24892e79.html) she is quoted as saying

Since his older brother was killed in a car accident last summer, Stuart Sohovich has had trouble sleeping. So he either jogs or goes for a long drive.
The 20-year-old Edgewater resident was driving one of his “loops” around south county about 2:45 a.m. Sunday when he thought he hit a deer on Solomons Island Road, said his mother, Vera Sohovich. That’s not uncommon on south county’s rural roads, she added.

Police reports changed as well. Person hit was late teens to early 20's, then was 37 rears old. Police could not Confirm 911 calls, then reported they were on the scene. This was tragic all the way around. Who are any if us to judge pedestrian or driver when we were not there?

Never said anyone "lied", just stated that there were inconsistencies in the reporting all the way around, which is why most people have stated to just wait until all the facts come out.

Oh what a web we weave when we first set out to deceive....

P.S, I wonder why some leave their whole names and some make up names or only give first names. Just a thought. I'm not going to argue anymore, nor judge. I'm just going to pray for both families.

"just running away and praying". Don't worry I will pray for you too. I'm not running away from anything, I have a lIfe and a family to take care of so I must run away to that :)

Well that's obvious. I'll do it anyway. :)

Thanks. See we are already agreeing on something. :)

None of you knew my cousin Kendrick nor were you there to witness what happened, so STOP assuming. Kendrick was a great person and did not deserve to be Hit and left for dead no matter where is was. So keep all of your opinions to yourself... Kendrick we love and miss you.. God has you now... May your soul rest in peace..

I've been reading the papers stories and listening to all the posters, police reports have changed, mothers story has changed, all I hope is the police do their job and find out who/where/when this driver was with prior to the accident and start doing some more indept investigating. If the officier that stop to talk to the man in the road way didn't lock this man up or offer him a ride home or to have some one pick him up, he must of seem to have been in a right frame of mind for them to allow him to continue on his own.
Not sure what really is going on here, but something's not right with the information being given, like I said; I hope the county police do the proper work to get to the truth of this incident for both parties well being, what ever the outcome maybe.

All of this is irrelevant, before you season your words with salt the fact is one man is with God the other will one day face him. It is not our duty to judge this, no matter what the facts are, this was an ACCIDENT! Makes me wonder how you would have reacted if it happened to you or your child. Quite a few of these posters need to take a good look in the mirror!

Thoughts for those directly involved.

I cannot believe that so many of you are jumping to a conclusion one way or the other. Maybe the kid thought he hit a deer, maybe he didn't. You don't know! Furthermore, maybe the guy walking down the street was planning on throwing himself in front of a car. You don't know! All I can tell from this story is the kid hit something, and the man was seen walking in the street. So I'm not quite sure how you Columbos are able to know everything that happened. Everyone other than the kid and the deceased is ignorant of the facts, and as Confucius said "real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance."

Was he driving home from work, or was he out driving around because he couldnt sleep????

The fact is Maryland has laws and the citizens, police, and courts have to abid by these laws. Section 21-506 Pedestrian Laws on Highways spells it out. Pedestrians on highways without sidewalks are supposed to walk as close to the edge as possible facing oncoming traffic. This pedestrian violated the law multiple times and put every driver at risk. He risked not only his own life, but ever driver and their passengers. The police officer also violated the law by not citing him or removing him from the highway.

1. I have not heard anybody claim the driver hit the pedestrian on purpose, so defending the driver on that point is, well pointless.
2. If there was enough debris left at the scene for police to identify the car so precisely, then it would have been pretty clear to the driver (when he "turned around") to identify a pretty small area of impact. He should have searched that area thoroughly.
3. Sounds like there was a lot of damage to the car. Can't imagine some clothing or other sign of the victim was not on it. Unless it was cleaned in the many hours that passed before AACo Police saw it. Anybody that has hit a deer knows that most of the time, something is left behind.
4. The issue, as I see it, is not who was at fault, but what happened after that. Best case scenario; the driver did not do his due diligence in identifying what he hit and a man was lying nearby dying. That is terrible. Worse case, the driver knew he hit someone and there was a man dying, and he (the driver) was the only one in the world that could have saved him. That, is well beyond terrible.
THAT, is why we (and the authorities) need to be skeptical. It does not hurt to be skeptical, but it does hurt to let people get away with things because we fear being viewed as judgemental. A man died.

Some people are still missing an important point. The article does not mention that the driver's car had subsantial damage to the passenger side. It states that the police expected that would be the case. If the victim was still walking in the travel lane, he might not have been hit by the passenger side. Having worked in the auto parts business for decades, I know that a casting number on a part as seemingly insignificant as a turn signal lens could identify the make and model of a vehicle, so there was not necessarily a lot of debris left on the road. One comment mentions that anyone who has hit a deer would know what to look for to determine if it was a deer or something else. I suspect that those who have hit a deer are certainly a minority and it would be a totally new experience for most of us. At that time of morning, on a lonely stretch of highway, I'm not sure how long I would have hung around outside my car to search for what could easily have been an object thrown at my car by someone trying to rob me or worse.

This man was only 20, still a kid in a lot of ways, and may have been the first time he was ever in any kind of accident. Do any of you remember the first time you were in an accident when you were young? I do, and it was terrifying, and all I did was hit a tree. Could he have done things differently that may have allowed him to find the man? Possibly, but take into consideration that he is young, asumed he hit a deer, with the fear and adreniline he was surely dealing with, it sounds like he did the best he could. If I hit a deer, and I have before, I don't call the police unless the body was blocking the roadway. I would call animal control in the morning for carcas removal, if I knew where its body ended up. Do all of you folks call the police every time you hit an animal? I doubt it, and at 2 AM, I don't think the police want to get calls from people that hit a deer, or a raccoon, or whatever unless its a danger to other drivers. Stop demonizing this young man, no one knows all the facts, we have a wonderful police force and real dectives, so there's no need for anyone else to play dective.

It's hard to not be skeptical when less than 6 months ago, Mr. Sohovich was found guilty of speeding, 76 in a 50 m.p.h. zone, at night within little miles of this tragedy. Lesson learned?

Lesson to moms everywhere. You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and may be used against your kid.

"The man died because he was not walking on the shoulder where he belonged. It's sad, but demonizing the driver will not bring him back to life."

Really, how can you make this statement, how do you know the man wasn't on the side of the road and when the unfortunate driver looked down for a second as stated swirved and struct the man walking. THE MAN DIED BECAUSE HE WAS STRUCT BY A CAR, FROM SOMEONE NOT PAYING ATTENTION, PERIOD.
If your paying attention, I don't give a crap how dark it is, your car has headlights, what type of curve or trun your coming around and where anybody or thing for that matter is on the road, you can identify what you hit.
The thing everyone seems to forget is the driver was not paying attention, which is why 95% of all accidents occur, just stop defending this young man so easily and belittling the man whose life was lost.

LET THE POLICE DECIDE WHAT REALLY HAPPEN THAT NIGHT, THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

To those saying that the damage was unknown, apparently there was enough evidence at the scene to determine the make, model, year, and color of the vehicle. Plus, it has been stipulated that something dark came up and crashed down on the windshield. Regardless of what it was, that would have caused significant damage.

ive lived here my whole life and have to say ive never, ever seen people walking at night on this part of rt 2. I live right across from high school. Yes, im not sitting there watching 24/7 but just saying that people are not what you expect to see in or on the road at night to look out for. Deer, small animals, even horses and cows...yes, that you expect. My prayers for ALL involved. I know neither parties involved, but i wish peace to all the familys and the young man. An accident is an accident and just that...no one meant for any of this to happen im sure.

Cheryl get some rest.... I'm sure there will be more investigations for you to take over in the am!

@Cheryl W, Naptown Guy, Susan L, Mr. Miagi, DW, DR, Susan, John Frenaye, John M Lee, Chuck E, Patsy, and Julie:

Thank God! Finally some reasonable, intelligent, educated, and responsible citizens on this thread!
I have four things to say & a message to Erica:
1) I guess “Ms. Vera” was FINALLY advised to shut her mouth as she is the primary one discrediting her son. Her comments alone provoked most of this outrage and anger.
2) Who cares if someone posts with an alias or their real name? No one! Welcome to the internet folks!
3) This is freedom of speech on an open forum; everyone has a right to voice their opinion RESPECTFULLY.
4) I think I speak for many when I say “We are skeptical as this is a very odd story and we are simply casting light on a dark area and lending a voice to the deceased man; hoping for justice.”

@Erica, I am truly so sorry for your loss, Kendrick did not deserve to die, no matter what the circumstances. He may have been clinging to life as he was left for dead. I am saddened and disgusted at the audacity of fellow human beings justifying his death. I implore you to get a lawyer; someone will definitely take this case on, perhaps even pro bono, keep asking until you find a lawyer and seek justice should the authorities find negligence in their investigation. This is what our justice system is for. Good luck God bless you and your family.

Cheryl first you seem to know quite a bit about everything, we call people like that busy bodies. I am beginning to think that you have something against the Sohovich family like maybe you are a enemy of Vera? I really feel sorry for people like you, to sit there and criticize people does that make you feel better? I hope that you never have a issue in your family....boy you may stab them in the back too. PS Grow up.

I had never heard of the Sohovich family in my life. Therefore, I have nothing against her or her family. I have a right to my opinion just like you do and have not criticized anyone. I am not the one who has a story to tell. I just call it like i see it. If you notice, the name calling is being done by everyone defending the driver, busy bodies, ignorant, idiot. Have a good evening! :)

Unfortunately , however, you did not see it, nor did the rest of us. Therefore all of these opinions are not helping or hurting anyone. This commenting should just stop.

Investigators are consulting with the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office to determine what, if any, charges may be filed against Sohovich, police said

Just leave it at that.

Doesn't matter if he was getting off of work or just went for a drive; he's allowed to be on the road. At the end, he will not go to jail, nor should he. Call him a devil or an angel with your comments, the law will determine what happens, not replies on this page. Based on what happened before and after the man was hit, I don't think the law will be able to do a lot to him.

Cheryl-

You previously agreed this was an ACCIDENT, then you say "SERIOUSLY?" *scratches head*

You have misinterpreted my first post so let me be clear:

Irrelevant~ when directly relating to the facts (unfortunatly the investigation has not produced a press release with the facts of this case) therefore your opinion, based off news reports and papers, is irrelevant to the case.

Fact- one man is dead the other will face the concenquences either with the law or before God

Fact-this was a accident

Fact- its not our duty to judge this based, (to be clear) on the facts stated in this post, unless you are directly investigating this case with AACOPD or part of our judicial system

Opinion- how would you act if this was your child and you had to read this thread? I know I would be heartbroken to see my child face such trials as I would be forever heartbroken to lose my child while walking down the road.

FACT- But WE DO NOT KNOW ALL THE FACTS to what happened in that car,on that road, that night. Nor the condition of either man.
You were not present during the accident so you can not factually state it could have been prevented.

Have a blessed day ;)

Again thoughts and prayers are with the families and victims DIRECTLY involved.

What makes anyone posting here a friend of the family any more than you are a friend if Mr, Richardson? No one has asked you to defend the driver, however it is not your place to persecute him on here either.

As I stated in the previous article from the patch. The issue here isn't whose to blame but the fact a hit and run took place. Is there a chance Mr. Richardson could still be alive if authorities were notified when the incident occurred? His poor body was left on the side of the road for over 4 hours. Was there a reasonable doubt that Mr. Sohovich knew he had hit human being? I do not have all the facts and information to answer this question and neither does anybody commenting on this article, including the families of either party. Thats what this investigation needs to answer.

I guess we all just need to have faith that a thorough investigation will come to a reasonable conclusion whatever that may be. In the meantime even I have learned some things I was not aware of. I've never personally hit a deer but also didn't know you are supposed to call that in to the police. Now I know. My oldest child will be driving soon and I'm using this as a learning tool for her. Hindsight is 20/20, but if we can try to teach our kids from these tragedies at the very least maybe less of this kind of thing will happen. I know I'm not looking forward to my kids being out there driving, or walking for that matter. I wish they could stay little forever so we could protect them but that's just not possible. Hope we can all learn something from this horrible tragedy and that healing can take place for both families.

Kendrick Richardson's home-going services will be on Thursday, August 23, at Zion Baptist Church located at 4850 Blagden Ave., NW. Viewing is from 9 am - 11 am and service starts at 11:00 AM - noon. Rev. Dr. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. (Pastor)

Pls send cards to the family at 1912 19th Street, SE Washington, DC 20020

Address Correction: 1912 18th Street, SE Washington, DC 20020

May God Bless you Kendrick Richardson. May you rest in peace.

R.I.P Kendrick

A comment was deleted from this thread due to the use of profanity—a violation of Patch's Terms of Use.

@ They Lied, you are on to something. There was an awful lot of scuffling and "damage control" being done to state what the driver was doing following the accident. If anyone is a credible witness please contact the police department. Kendrick, may you rest in peace.

He was drunk. He hit Kendrick and went home. After seeing the news report he and his Mom lied to the police deciding to turn himself in instead of being found. He didn't want to get in trouble for driving drunk but killed a man in the process. He needs to own up to what he has done. He knew he didn't hit a deer...

He waited until his blood alchohol level went down before he turned himself in. Guess he felt he couldn't say "I was coming home drunk and I think I may have hit an innocent person on the road"...

I doubt he will be charged since it will be difficult for a prosecutor to disprove the driver's version of events. If anything, he'll be charged with minor traffic violations.

@DW...not unless they have proof by means of witnesses seeing him drinking, or text messages (which you do not need a subpoena for). I guess we'll see...
Either way he's doomed; now in our justice system or later in God's. What a sad, troubled family. God bless to all, especially Kendrick, RIP my friend.

If anyone has a drinking problem please go to www.aa.org save yourself first, then you can save others.

WOW!!!1 YOU PEOPLE HAVE IT TWISTED MY BROTHER WAS HIT&KILLED BY A 20 YEAR OLD SPEEDING OFF DRUGS 9 TIMES OUT OF TEN THE YOU SAY YOU THOUGHT YOU HIT A DEER SMH CRAZY WORLD JUSTICE WILL B SERVED SOMETHING GOTS TO GIVE REALLY!

SO I GUESS HE WAITED FOR THE DRUGS TOO GET OUT HIS SYSTEM THEN SHOW UP SMH !

I CAN NOT BELIEVE HE DID MY FOLKS LIKE THIS DIRTY WORLD ,,,YOUR RESTING KENDRICK IM NOT;[

I knew Kendrick...he was 37 & I'm 35, but I have vivid memories of our special friendship from age 17- 21. I am shocked at all of the opinions written here. Kendrick was thought of, cared about & loved by many. During my weekend trip from Atlanta to DC, I went to his old home & spoke with his sister on Sat, Aug 11, 2012 asking about his whereabouts & to find out if he was ok. Those of us that knew him, know what he went through. So, please don't make assumptions about why he was walking in the middle of the night. I pray that Kendrick is now able to be at peace.

@George Lopez, @Karen
This is my "like" to your posts :)