Lt. Daniel Alioto of the St. Mary's Sheriff's Dept. interviews the young driver of this red vehicle which hit a man who ran onto Great Mills Road from the liquor store in the background.  The man died on the scene but every effort was made to revive him and he was pronounced dead at St. Mary's Hospital.   A can of beer was found next to his body, say police.   Pedestrians walking into the path of traffic on Great Mills Road accounted for two fatalities in the past year, with nearly a dozen such incidents over the past 15 years.  Pedestrians should not walk onto roads with dark clothes at night.  Crossing at crosswalks with traffic signals is a safer way to get to the liquor store. 
See more exclusive news photos in print edition.  ST. MARY'S TODAY photo James Antone
Death Walk: Can of beer found next to dead pedestrian's body
Sheriff's Dept.:
Dead Pedestrian Identified as Thomas Stevenson Morgan, 42, of Lexington Park.
GREAT MILLS ---  A man who ran into the path of a vehicle on Great Mills Road, coming from the Stop and Shop liquor store, was carrying a beer with, according to police, who do not expect to charge the young driver who was operating the vehicle. The man who ran into traffic on the dark stretch of road between the old Racket Club and Great Mills High School was pronounced dead at St. Mary's Hospital.  St. Mary's Sheriff's Lt. Daniel Alioto called for K-9 officers to respond to the scene to keep order as relatives and friends of the dying man began to go after the motorist, who police say was clearly not at fault.  
Persons crossing Great Mills Road are frequently killed due to their entering the roadway at night, without using a crosswalk.  While the SHA has put a traffic signal and crosswalk at the nearby entrance to Great Mills High School, the State has yet to erect a crosswalk to the liquor store.   A lack of adequate street lighting adds to the risk factors for people wearing dark clothing who decided to bolt into the path of traffic.  Other pedestrians have been killed in front of McDonalds, the Exxon station, Burger King and several others in front of the liquor store in the past 16 years.  
One caller to ST. MARY'S TODAY attempted to blame the death on the lack of street lighting and speeding motorists.  While Great Mills Road needs more street lights and the State Highway Administration fails to replace burned out lights until requested and speeding is generally unchallenged by police, St. Mary's Sheriff's Sgt. Theodore Belleavoine says the speed of the motorist in this case was not over the limit, nor was alcohol present for the 17-year-old driver, who is a Great Mills resident. 
"You don't expect people to walk down to Great Mills High School to cross the road, do you?" said the caller who complained about the dark road and speeders.  The distance from the liquor store to the high school for residents of the trailer park across the street is about a half block. The intersection is not only well lit, has a traffic signal but also has pedestrian crossing buttons which will stop traffic to allow pedestrians to cross the highway.  One need only be not too lazy to use the intersection in order to cross the highway safely....or be sober.  Parents should instruct their children to cross at the crosswalk, children should tell their parents not to be intoxicated when crossing highways.
Last summer a crowd of boozing and fighting bar patrons crowded out onto Rt. 234 at Clements in a 50 mph speed zone and were hit by a driver who had been drinking.  This crash took place on a dark road and two people were killed, one of them a teen who did not belong at the bar.  While most readers believed that the boozing idiots fighting in the highway at 2 am were at fault, others thought that the deaths were the sole fault of the motorist.