Pedestrian was killed in Columbia hit-and-run crash, now a man is in jail, police say

Days after a man was killed in a hit-and-run crash, a 23-year-old was arrested, according to the Columbia Police Department.

Tommy Reese, a 53-year-old Columbia resident, is the man who died, Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford said Thursday.

After being taken into custody Tuesday, Kahlil Graham was charged with hit-and-run resulting in death, failure to render aid, operating uninsured, and driving under suspension, jail records show.

At about 11 p.m. Sunday, Graham hit a pedestrian and drove away without rendering aid or calling 911, police said.

The collision happened in the 3700 block of Farrow Road, according to police. That’s near the junction with S.C. 277 and about a mile from Prisma Health Richland hospital.

The pedestrian was taken to a local hospital, where he died about an hour after the crash, police said.

The Richland County Coroner’s Office has not publicly identified the pedestrian.

Information about how police connected Graham to the hit-and-run collision was not available.

Graham’s bond was set at $251,320 on the combined charges, and he remains locked up at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, jail records show.

Graham is scheduled to appear in court again on the hit-and-run charge on May 27, Richland County judicial records show. He’s slated to appear in court for the other counts on June 22.

In 2017, a jury in a common pleas court ruled against Graham for his role in a motor vehicle accident, and he was ordered to pay $15,000, according to court records.

This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 7:55 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription