A judge acquitted a Midlothian man Tuesday of killing a pedestrian in Colonial Heights while under the influence of alcohol, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the driver was impaired even though his blood alcohol content was at the presumptive legal threshold for intoxication.
The victim, who was mentally disabled, also had been drinking.
After a three-hour trial in Colonial Heights Circuit Court, Judge David E. Johnson found Shane Erick Dent, 35, not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and DUI in the July 6, 2019, death of 65-year-old Jack Dale Leabhart Jr.
Leabhart was crossing the Boulevard near Birch Avenue in Colonial Heights after picking up some food when he was struck and killed in the far-right lane just after 9 p.m.