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Escambia Man Charged in 2025 Fatal Nine Mile Road Hit And Run
April 28, 2026
An Escambia County man has been charged in connection with a fatal hit and run last year on Nine Mile Road.
A pedestrian was struck and killed in a hit and run during the early morning hours of June 20, 2025, on Nine Mile Road, and the suspected hit and run driver has surrendered to troopers.
Kenneth Early Bodley, Jr., 34, was booked into the Escambia County Jail last Friday on a charge of hit and run failure to stop or remain at a crash involving death. He was released Saturday night on an $88,000 bond.
About 3:58 a.m., the victim, identified as Roderick Bennett of Cocoa, Florida, was out for his morning exercise and jogging in or near a Nine Mile Road crosswalk. Bodley, who was traveling east in the inside lane of Nine Mile Road in a 2021 Chevrolet Traverse, failed to see Bennett in the crosswalk, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report. Troopers said he failed to stop and continued east on Nine Mile Road.
Bennett was transported to Baptist Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 4:48 a.m.
A witness told troopers that the suspect vehicle passed him at a high rate of speed on Nine Mile Road, and he watched as the vehicle failed to stop at the red light at University Parkway.
Bodley’s vehicle was identified using license plate reader cameras, the report states, and a trail of vehicle parts led to Water’s Edge Apartments on Gloria Circle, about one half mile away. Investigators determined that Bodley lived at the complex, but they were unable to locate him or the vehicle.
Just before 10 p.m. on the day of the crash, the FHP dispatch center received a call from Bodley’s attorney, stating that he was at the FHP Pensacola Station to turn himself in. Bodley told a responding trooper that he was driving the Chevrolet Traverse involved in the crash and drove to his mother’s house on Lee Street in Pensacola. Troopers located the vehicle behind the residence, and located blood on the bumper belonging to Bennett, according to DNA testing.
“The defendant’s vehicle collided with the victim causing fatal injuries. The defendant failed to stop his vehicle and render aid, failed to remain on scene or report the crash. The defendant left the scene leaving the victim lying on the roadway,” the trooper’s report states.
Comments
4 Responses to “Escambia Man Charged in 2025 Fatal Nine Mile Road Hit And Run”
Roderick was an avid community worker who worked tirelessly on his day’s off doing charitable work in the community. No one was aware of his generosity and community service until after his death. He was a dedicated state worker who always strived to do his job collecting support. The community lost an irreplaceable person who made a difference everyday and quietly made our town a better place. We will always miss him.
Thank you all for your comments. As Rodericks father
, no explanation is going to bring him back to the family, but trust and believe, answers to those questions and others will be answered.
How cold and callous can a person be?
Why did it take almost a year?