After hit-and-run accident leads to Wichita man’s death, the driver will go to prison

A 37-year-old Wichita man was sentenced Thursday to two years, seven months in prison for leaving the scene of a crash that killed a pedestrian in south Wichita in January.

Cody C. Cox pleaded guilty to the charge in September. Authorities have said 52-year-old James P. Dolton of Wichita was fatally struck by a Honda Acura RSX around 9:40 p.m. on Jan. 8 as he was crossing Seneca south of Pawnee after leaving a Taco Bell. Cox was driving the Honda but did not stop or offer any sort of help after hitting him. Police later traced the car to Cox and found it at his house with front-end damage and a broken windshield.

Dolton, a food industry worker who loved reading and trivia, died at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis hospital the next day from blunt force injuries, including skull and rib fractures, bleeding, and lacerated internal organs.

Prosecutors alleged Cox knew or should have known the crash resulted in someone's death or serious injury but failed to immediately stop and help or or tell law enforcement. In a jail phone call after his arrest, Cox told his mother he "wasn't trying to hurt nobody" and complained that he was in jail "with a bunch of killers," a probable cause affidavit released in the case says.

Cox's lawyer on Thursday urged Sedgwick County District Judge Sean Hatfield to make a "border box finding" and place Cox on probation instead of sending him to prison. In a written motion, attorney C. Ryan Gering said Dolton was under the influence of alcohol when he crossed the street in the middle of the block "during a blizzard, where visibility conditions were extremely poor." Cox panicked after hitting him but turned himself in to police four days later and has been out of jail on bond since Jan. 18 with no issues.

He wrote that Cox's failure to stop "had no effect" on Dolton's chance of survival because witnesses reported the crash immediately and that probation would allow him to work, attend counseling and support his young daughter.

Hatfield ultimately imposed a 31-month sentence and ordered Cox "be taken into custody," Dillon said by email.

Cox was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail after the hearing, jail records show. After he finishes the prison portion of his sentence, he must serve two years of post-release supervision, Dillon said.

Driver guilty in crash that killed Wichita restaurant worker who loved sports, books