Driver charged with murder after allegedly running over man in Hickory parking lot

HICKORY, N.C. — Channel 9 has learned new details Wednesday about a deadly hit-and-run investigation in Hickory.

Austin Edmonson was charged with first-degree murder after police said he ran over another man, killing him in a Hickory parking lot early Saturday.

Officers were called around 1 a.m. to the parking lot of Party City on Catawba Valley Boulevard Southeast and found Jason Michael Foley seriously injured. He was airlifted to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in critical condition.

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Witnesses said several people got in a fight in the parking lot when Edmonson, 20, got into a vehicle and drove around the shopping center parking lot before plowing into a group, hitting Foley and three others.

Officers found Edmonson and the car a short time later behind a nearby business.

Edmonson was arrested and charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and felony hit-and-run. He was taken to the Catawba County Justice Center and held under a $35,000 secured bond.

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On Monday, Foley died in the hospital.

Officers added other charges, including first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

According to the police report, more than a dozen people witnessed the crash.

Edmonson appeared before a judge Wednesday morning and remains in jail with no bond.

Foley’s friends and family plan on gathering in the parking lot for a Memrial Friday evening.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.

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