Man killed by train in Macon identified

A 45-year-old man last seen jogging on a stretch of north Bibb County railroad track was killed Tuesday afternoon after being struck by a northbound Norfolk Southern train bound for Princeton, Indiana.

Ronnie Franklin Morris, of Kelly Road in Griffin, was pronounced dead at the scene. Bibb County sheriff's deputies were called about 2:30 p.m. and spent much of the afternoon talking with witnesses and examining the segment of track that sits about 100 yards east of Arkwright Road, between the road and the Ocmulgee River.

Vehicle traffic slowed in the 5000 block of Arkwright Road near the old Plant Arkwright and north of the River North subdivision as motorists saw crime tape cordoning off the area and stopped to ask what happened.

Sheriff's Lt. Randy Gonzalez said people operating the train saw Morris, who had his back to the train, and blew the horn several times to warn him.

The train was not able to stop before it struck Morris. A black Chevrolet Cavalier, registered to a person with the same last name as Morris, was found not far from the site of the train incident, also along Arkwright Road.

The car appeared to have run off the road.

Gonzalez said Morris was struck by the train more than 250 feet down the track from where his remains were found when the train stopped.

Several train cars and the locomotives were parked ahead of where deputies examined Morris' body.

Rick Harris, a Norfolk Southern spokesman, said the 3,037-ton train's journey began in Jacksonville, Florida, and it was carrying more than 50 empty cars equipped to haul automobiles.

The train was moved about 4:30 p.m.

Telegraph photographer Beau Cabell and writer Laura Corley contributed to this report. To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398 and find her on Twitter@awomackmacon.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 8:29 PM with the headline "Man killed by train in Macon identified ."