By Andy Sevilla.
Almost six months after 37-year-old Phillip Duran died in an apparent hit-and-run, auto-pedestrian accident in Kyle, authorities have yet to charge or arrest anyone in the case, but perhaps not for long.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS), who is conducting a forensic analysis of evidence collected at the scene, said tests are “nearing completion.”
| DURAN |
DPS spokesman Tom Vinger, said in an email that the state agency received several pieces of evidence on May 2, four days after Duran’s body was found lying near the Kohler’s Crossing and FM 1626 intersection, and the DPS Crime Lab processed the items in “four different crime lab disciplines (sections), including DNA.”
“The results from that first round of testing were reported back to the investigating agency in approximately two months (July 12),” Vinger said. “In July, the (Kyle) Police Department requested that additional items be tested for DNA in the case. The additional testing is in progress and nearing completion.”
Once the final report is submitted to the Kyle Police Department (KPD), Chief Jeff Barnett said he will take the information to the Hays County District Attorney’s Office for review.
“The lack of an arrest doesn’t mean that our department has forgotten about the case or that we are not moving forward,” Barnett said, adding that potential charges in the case hinge on a final report by DPS, which was commissioned by KPD to conduct a forensic analysis of the evidence.
Duran set out, from his mother’s home where he lived with her, on a late-night run on April 27. She last saw him alive at about 10 p.m. that night, according to authorities. Duran was reported missing at 9 a.m. on April 28, and his brother – Kyle Council Member Chad Benninghoff – found the victim’s body lifeless and lying in tall grass near a well-traveled intersection at about 5:30 p.m. that day while helping police with the search.
Following up on tips from the public, on April 29 KPD found a vehicle belonging to a then-Hays High School student that matched the description authorities put out on a car they believed might have been involved in the alleged hit-and-run auto-pedestrian collision.
Duran’s autopsy concluded he died “as a result of multiple blunt force injuries sustained when struck by a motor vehicle.”
Barnett said the person-of-interest has remained the same during the investigation and the suspect’s vehicle is part of the evidence DPS is testing.
