Friends and family gathered at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 19, to grieve the loss of Ole Miss junior Walker Fielder. Fielder was the victim of a fatal vehicular hit and run early Sunday morning, Oct. 16, at City Hall in downtown Oxford.
Blanche Williamson, a UM sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., was also struck by the vehicle. She was transported to Memphis and remains hospitalized there.
Two individuals have been arrested in connection with Sunday’s incident.
Seth Rokitka, 24, of Collierville, Tenn., has been charged with one count of manslaughter, one count of aggravated DUI, one count of duties of driver involved in accident resulting in death and one count of duties of driver involved in accident resulting in personal injury. Rokitka appeared before a Justice Court judge, and his bond is set at $1 million.
Rokitka was arrested and taken into custody Monday morning. His truck, which has been identified by Oxford police as the vehicle that struck the victims, was found wrecked in Marshall County, Miss.
Tristan Holland, 18, also of Collierville, Tenn., was arrested Sunday evening in Shelby County, Tenn. Thursday morning, Oct. 20, Holland was formally charged with accessory after the fact with a bond set at $25,000.
Since the event, there have been rumors circulating on social media that the hit and run was a premeditated attack. However, OPD confirmed that Holland and Rokitka did not have any previous interaction with Fielder or Williamson, and the suspects and students were at separate establishments Saturday night before the incident. The department said that Rokitka and Holland failed to render aid to the injured students or call 911.
Oxford police responded to a call at approximately 1:14 a.m. Sunday from passers-by who indicated that two people were injured in the parking lot behind City Hall. The victims were immediately taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi, where Fielder died.
Neither of the men arrested for their involvement in the fatal hit and run are affiliated with the university, according to an email about the incident sent Monday to the university community by Chancellor Glenn Boyce.
“While there are no words that can alleviate the deep sorrow that his friends and family are experiencing, please keep them close in your thoughts and prayers during this time of immense grief,” Boyce said.
In a Monday morning press release, the Oxford Police Department expressed gratitude to the Oxford public for helping bring Holland and Rokitka into custody.
“We can’t express enough thanks and gratitude to the community, business owners and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners for their assistance,” the department said.
Mayor Robyn Tannehilll posted a heartfelt address on Facebook Sunday evening urging Oxford citizens to pray for Fiedler’s family and the female victim’s recovery.
“Oxford is a community that comforts those that need comforting,” Tannehill said. “Perhaps from practice and from times of trials that we wish we could pray away, but nevertheless, Oxford always steps up when things are hard and when people need us. These two families need us. They need our prayers.”
