In the last minutes of his life, James Mitchell was walking home from a convenience store with a pack of cigarettes, a walk he had done countless times before.
Mitchell, 65, was struck and killed by a Ford F-250 on the 3600 block of South New Hope Road Jan. 28. Earlier this month, the driver of the pickup truck, 41-year-old David Allen Pope, was arrested and charged with death by motor vehicle, driving with a revoked license, failure to maintain lane control, and having unsafe tires.
Mitchell’s longtime girlfriend, Vanessa Glenn, said that Mitchell, called “Fish” by friends and family, loved to dance and play harmonica.
“Everybody loved him, everybody. My family loved him. They adored him. He was so giving, so fun loving,” she said.
She said she met Mitchell around 20 years ago because they lived in the same neighborhood. They became friends, and the two have been in a relationship since around 2006.
“He could out dance me. He could do any kind of dance. He was so full of life. He smiled all the time,” she said.