Troopers say sheriff’s deputy not intoxicated

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ)- West Virginia State Police released new information after a teenager was hit and killed Friday night.

Troopers say the 13-year-old girl was hit and killed Friday night by a car driven by an off-duty Cabell County Sheriff’s deputy.

The deputy was driving their marked cruiser traveling north on 31st Street when troopers say they struck the young girl, according to West Virginia State Police.

The familiy identifies the victim as Laney Hudson, 13, of Huntington.(WSAZ with family's permission)

The family identifies the victim as 13-year-old Laney Hudson.

“She was very smart,” said, Opal Slone, Laney’s mother. “She was fun and outgoing. She always had a smile on her face. She was always acting goofy. She was a special little girl.”

Troopers said the deputy behind the wheel passed both field sobriety and breathalyzer tests.

“The driver was not intoxicated or impaired in any way,” said Sgt. B. K. Wellman, a trooper with the West Virginia State Police. “As a standard with fatal accidents, we give people sobriety tests. It’s part of what we do.”

Wellman tells WSAZ.com witnesses told troopers that the deputy had a green light at the time of the incident.

West Virginia State Police’s standard protocol for fatal accidents is to recover the black box which determines if speed was a factor, according to Sgt. Wellman.

“We’re going to do our job and we’re going to do it thoroughly. At the end of the investigation, we will have the answers they want and give them the closure they [family and friends] are looking for,” Wellman said.

The incident will be investigated further once the accident reconstruction happens which is expected later this week.

The deputy is on administrative leave pending the outcoming of the investigation, according to Cabell County Sheriff Chuck Zerkle.

This incident remains under investigation by the West Virginia State Police.