A Vicksburg man was stuck and killed by a vehicle early Sunday morning on U.S. 80 just outside the city limits, and his mother said the 33-year-old had likely just left a celebration of his brother’s wedding.

John Lee Noble, 4798 U.S. 61 South, was probably trying to get home from a party at a nearby club, said Bonnie Lee. “But he was supposed to come home with someone else, and I don’t know what happened.”

No charges have been filed, but authorities have impounded the vehicle they believe killed Noble.

The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol is leading the investigation into the death reported at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday near Pear Orchard Subdivision, about a half-mile from U.S. 80’s intersection with Mississippi 27 and the city limits, and Sgt. James Walker said this morning investigators and accident reconstructionists have little evidence to go on.

However, they were to meet today with a woman who contacted the Warren County Sheriff’s Department on Sunday about the hit and run.

Noble was pronounced dead at 6:05 a.m. of head and body trauma by Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey, who said he suspects Noble’s body had been on the north side of the 500 block of the highway for some time.

“I think he’d been there at least a couple of hours,” he said. “I could just tell by the way he looked.”

Noble leaves behind three children ages 4 to 10 who live with their mothers, his mother said. Born in Jefferson County, Noble moved to Vicksburg about 12 years ago with his mother, she added, and lived with her.

He had a girlfriend in Vicksburg, and had worked at BrettCo Screencrafters on Mississippi 27 for the past two years, Lee said. 

“He was a good-hearted person who really didn’t go out much and liked to stay at home,” said his mother.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said a woman contacted his office Sunday night turned over a car she said she was driving early Sunday. The car was impounded, he said.

“It appears that she was the driver of the vehicle that we believe to have been involved in the hit and run,” said Pace, who would not release the woman’s name or provide any further details. “She was not charged with anything and was released,” he said.

Whether she is charged with any crimes will be up to the investigators and the District Attorney’s Office, the sheriff said.

An autopsy performed Sunday at the Mississippi Crime Lab confirmed trauma was the cause of death, Huskey said.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com