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Asphalt worker hit, killed while repaving busy road identified

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — An asphalt worker was hit and killed while working on Tara Boulevard in Clayton County Tuesday morning.

Lovejoy police Chief Michael Gaddis said the asphalt company was paving Tara Boulevard between Lovejoy and McDonough when the crash happened.

Police identified the worker as Justin Bagley, 28, of Roanoke, Alabama.

The driver of a red pickup truck that hit the worker stayed on the scene. The driver was identified as Ray Byrom, 44. Charges are pending against Byrom.

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Channel 2's Kristen Holloway was on Tara Boulevard, where all northbound lanes were closed at McDonough Road as police investigated the crash.

Bagley was performing repaving work with Wall Asphalt Services, which is based in Carrollton.

The company's owner, who didn't want to go on camera, told Holloway a crew was in the two left lanes putting asphalt down to seal cracks in the road.

He said an off-duty officer was following behind them and pushing traffic to the far right lane when the truck hit Bagley.

"We hate to see anything like this occur not only in Lovejoy but anywhere. Anytime you lose human life that's very tragic and very unfortunate," Gaddis told Holloway.

The owner said he has been in business for 35 years and this is the first time one of his employees was seriously injured.

Investigators are checking out surveillance video from a nearby gas station to get a better view of what happened. Channel 2 Action News is also working to get a copy.