Two people have been arrested in connection with the 2018 death of Pernell Boston.
Boston died June 24, 2018 in Midway after being the victim of a hit-and-run June 16, 2018.
The 45-year-old was riding his bike down Highway 84 shortly after midnight when he was struck from behind by what police believe was a white pickup truck.
According to incident reports, Boston was found on the side of the road by passerby who called for help.
Boston was taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah where he later died. According to family, he suffered broken ribs and legs, a dislocated shoulder and a contusion to the head.
According to Liberty County Sheriff Steve Sikes, investigators gathered information a few months after the accident that led them to believe Boston was intentionally hit but were unable to prove it.
Sikes said they got a break in the case in January of this year. He said investigators were working a armed robbery case that happened at the service station at exit 67 near the Liberty/McIntosh County line.
He said during that investigation new information was brought forward that tied the alleged suspects to the death of Boston.
A team comprised of officers from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Long County Sheriff’s Office and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives was formed, Sikes said, and spent hundreds of hours interviewing witnesses and suspects.
“Once the dominoes started falling some of the dominoes wanted to talk and brought up some names,” Sikes said
That led to the arrest of Rosaleen Fonseca Behnke and Michael Thomas Haggerty, who are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime. Sikes said the two conspired to commit trafficking in methamphetamine which resulted in the death of another, in this case Boston.
Behnke was already in Liberty County Jail after her arrest in February of this year on criminal drug charges. Haggerty is in jail in McIntosh County on drugs and weapons charges.
Sikes said more arrests are possibly pending as investigators continue to find information tying other individuals to this case and other drug related cases being investigated.