Man killed in Westside Parkway crash identified, has criminal history

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) -- The man killed in a gruesome hit-and-run crash on the Westside Parkway has been identified. Zachariah Nathaniel Byrd, 36, died May 4 after being hit by a car near the Mohawk Avenue overpass. The alleged driver -- Tomice Lee Fryman Jr. -- turned himself in more than nine hours after the crash, according to a court filing. Fryman, 51, has pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder and hit and run causing death. Court records show he has twice been convicted for DUI causing injury, most recently in 2021. No alcohol-related charges are listed in the current case, and Fryman's criminal defense attorney Tony Lidgett told 17 News Tuesday morning his client was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident. Though, Lidgett admits Fryman was speeding. "He could've been travelling anywhere from high 90s to low 100s," Lidgett said of an initial report. Lidgett said Fryman fled the scene due to panic and then went to church to pray before reporting himself to police. Byrd also has a criminal record. He was a convicted sex offender with multiple convictions for failing to register, according to the Superior Court website. Records show he was convicted in 2008 of having sex with a minor who was more than three years younger than him. In 2023, Bryd pleaded no contest to trespassing on school grounds. The final case against him involved drug charges and was dismissed last month after he spent time in a state hospital, records show. "[Byrd] had a history of drug abuse, had a history of mental abuse, had a history of sexual deviant crimes," Lidgett said. "[Most recently he], was found in court to be incompetent... You can't even figure out who your attorney is and what the case is about." "April 29, he gets released from custody because there's no place or nowhere to put him. May 3, the accident happens," the attorney added. On the fatal accident, Lidgett commented, "It's a gruesome death, but I don't think anybody should be held on murder charges based on someone else trying to kill themself." The attorney said Byrd was homeless and likely tried to commit suicide. "Why he's there at midnight anyways, and then there's one set of car lights, so he obviously sees the car coming. Why does he go in front of this car?" Lidgett said Fryman was driving from his home, about a mile from the accident site to his friend's. Shortly after the incident, social media posts showed body parts in Fryman's car. When asked if Fryman had picked up any of the severed parts, Lidgett answered, "No, no, no, no, no. It came through the windshield. It just somehow severed Mr. Byrd in half and just came through the windshield." Fryman is due back in court Wednesday. He's being held without bail.