By Andy Sevilla

 An 18-year-old Hays High School student was arrested Thursday and charged with failure to stop and render aid, a third-degree felony, in connection to a 2013 case that left a Kyle man dead.

Nathanael Eddleman was arrested May 29 by the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, according to Hays County Jail records, on a third-degree felony in connection with the hit-and-run case from last spring, that killed Phillip Duran near a well-traveled intersection in Kyle.

Eddleman’s original bond was set at $50,000 but records show a judge reduced it to $10,000. He was released Thursday night after posting bail.

Duran set out on a late-night run on April 27 last year; police said he never returned home.

Authorities say a vehicle struck Duran. His body was found near the southwest corner of FM 1626 and Kohler’s Crossing the next day.

Car parts found at the scene led police to Eddleman’s vehicle, which was parked at Hays High School, two days later. The Texas Department of Public Safety conducted a forensic analysis on the evidence found at the scene. 

Once that report was finalized for the Kyle Police Department, the matter was referred to the Hays County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Hays County records show Eddleman appeared before a Grand Jury on May 21. He could face up to 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine, if found guilty of the third-degree felony.

Eddleman’s attorney did not respond to a phone request from the Hays Free Press.

The Hays County District Clerk’s Office told the Hays Free Press Monday that no probable cause affidavit exists in Eddleman’s file. Those affidavits are used to secure an arrest warrant.

On Sunday, a new Texas law goes into effect that makes a hit-and-run a second-degree felony. 

Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe said any existing hit-and-run charges against anyone already arrested would not change as a result of the new law.

“We have to use the law as it was at the time of the commission of the crime,” she said in an emailed response Tuesday.