State Police investigate a tractor trailer stopped near the scene of a fatal crash on Interstate 64/77 southbound, just south of Kanawha City, where a construction worker was hit and killed by the truck on Monday, April 14, 2025.
State Police investigate a tractor trailer stopped near the scene of a fatal crash on Interstate 64/77 southbound, just south of Kanawha City, where a construction worker was hit and killed by the truck on Monday, April 14, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
A New York City man was charged with vehicular manslaughter after the tractor-trailer he was driving struck and killed a 23-year-old construction worker on Interstate 64/77 near Kanawha City Monday.
Law enforcement identified the victim as James Harper, 23, of Beckley. Harper was an employee of the West Virginia Parkways Authority.
Harper and other construction workers were filling potholes in the right lane of Interstate 64/77 southbound near mile 93.
According to a criminal complaint, another construction worker said he saw Anvar Sabirov, 28, driving the semi-truck toward the construction workers with his head down.
Sabirov swerved left, out of the construction zone in the right lane, to avoid striking a dump truck. However, the trailer struck Harper.
Sabirov told law enforcement he entered the work zone, maneuvered into the left lane and “only remembers seeing the victim appear out of nowhere and hearing his trailer strike the victim,†the complaint states.
Sabirov said he wasn’t on his phone at the time and wasn’t looking away from traffic. After the collision, he pulled over and went to check on the victim, he said.
Cpl. Ricardo Phillips with the West Virginia State Police wrote in the complaint that he believed Sabirov was distracted, looked up and swerved to avoid the dump truck. Phillips wrote he thought Sabirov didn’t see the victim standing behind the truck.
Sabirov showed no signs of impairment, according to the complaint.
Trucking company United Carrier Inc. provided the dash camera footage, which showed Sabirov driving through the work zone, driving close to the cones and narrowly missing another construction worker. The truck was not in the designated driving lane.
Sabirov’s phone was seized to be searched for cellphone call logs and app activity.
According to court records, Sabirov was released after his $3,300 cash bail was paid.
A bond modification hearing is set for Friday morning.
Sabirov was charged with two misdemeanors — negligent vehicular homicide and failure to maintain control. The charges could be upgraded by a grand jury.
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