Driver In Fatal Hit-And-Run Crash On I-95 Turns Himself In

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — The suspected driver in a 2023 fatal hit-and-run crash in Prince William County turned himself in this week and now faces charges in connection with the collision, according to police.

James A. Puryear, 50, of Alexandria, surrendered to law enforcement at the Prince William–Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center on Thursday, police said in a news release. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and possession of a controlled substance in the crash that killed 31-year-old Trenton Schnakenberg.

The crash occurred shortly after 5 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2023, near mile marker 158 on Interstate 95 in Prince William County.

According to police, Puryear was driving a 2005 Infiniti G35 when it sideswiped a 2015 Freightliner Cascadia tractor-trailer. The tractor-trailer then went off the left side of the interstate and struck a guardrail and a support column.

Puryear fled the scene following the crash, police said. Schnakenberg, the driver of the tractor-trailer, died at the scene.

Puryear’s surrender resulted from coordination between the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation-Fairfax Field Office, the United States Marshals Service, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area-Washington/Baltimore Field Office

Puryear has a court hearing scheduled for Monday.