Former Troy resident killed

By ERIKA KIRSCH Western News Editor

A Troy native was killed on New Year's Day in Missoula in a hit and run accident.

Bronson Parsons, 25, was struck from behind while legally walking on the side of the road in east Missoula at approximately 1:40 a.m. Tuesday. The driver of the vehicle immediately left the scene and has not been identified, according to Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Scott Hoffman.

Parsons and his roommate, Daniel Barry, had spent the evening at a friend's house. The roommates arrived at the friend's house, which was 1/2 a block behind their house, at approximately 7 p.m. on Monday. At approximately 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Parsons and Barry left their friend's home walked the 1/2 block to their house, which was on a side road on U.S. Highway 200, Barry explained. The two were inside their house for approximately 10-15 minutes when they decided to walk to a bar near their home.

The walk to the bar was approximately three minutes, Barry estimated. The bar could be seen from the roommates front steps, Barry said. The two planned to stop at a store on the way to the bar. Parsons and Barry were walking westbound on the shoulder of the road, with Parsons on the outside closest to the highway, Barry said.

The two men were talking when Barry said they both heard something, which they thought was skidding.

"I was looking right at him and we were talking and I felt this gust of wind and then I just saw him on the front of the car," Barry said. "I pretty much knew then that he wasn't alive."

Barry didn't remember much about the vehicle, as the incident happened so fast. However, he noted the car didn't slow down and Parsons "was on the front of the vehicle for a second." Barry believed the driver of the vehicle may have taken his/her foot off the accelerator long enough for Parsons to fall of the front of the vehicle and then speed away.

Parsons fell from the hood of the vehicle to the ground. Barry ran to his friend and he was "so busy looking at him" that he didn't get any details of the vehicle or it's occupants, Barry explained. Barry ran up to Parsons and was yelling for help. Barry said Parsons was still breathing and "his body was alive, but I knew he was gone."

An eastbound driver stopped and called 911. An ambulance came within 1 1/2 minutes. Barry asked for a life flight helicopter, but the helicopter was already in use, he said.

Barry was quick to note that "all the people that stopped to help were really nice and blocked off the street."

Parsons was taken in an ambulance to St. Patrick Hospital and Barry rode with a police officer to the hospital.

"I didn't give up any hope, but I knew," Barry said.

Parsons' cause of death was blunt trauma, Hoffman said.

Barry was told that Parsons carotid arteries were severed on the point of impact, therefore there was no blood supply to his brain. Machines kept Parsons alive long enough for his organs to be successfully harvested, Barry explained. Parsons was taken off life support at 11:30 Wednesday morning. Seven of his organs, including his eyes and bone marrow, will be donated to people needing transplants.

"At least seven people will be getting life from him," Barry said. "It was good he could help out a lot of people."

The investigation is ongoing and officials siezed Barry and Parsons coats for investigation in an attempt to glean paint samples and other evidence from the scene and the vehicle. Barry noted there were skid marks in the snow at the scene of the accident. Officials are also attempting to view video from a nearby bank and gas station in case any information regarding the vehicle and incident could be found on the tapes. Barry said he didn't remember any cars passing the two men for at least one minute prior to the accident.

Parsons and Barry had been roommates in Missoula for approximately three months. They had met in Portland, Ore. and were roommates when Parsons had moved from Troy to Portland. The two men had been friends for seven years, Barry said. Parsons was working for Mostad Construction in Missoula.

"He led a great life," Barry said about his friend. "So you can't be too angry about that."