HARRELS -- The Highway Patrol has now charged a Roseboro man in connection with a hit and run accident where a child was killed while leaving a school bus in Sampson County Tuesday afternoon.

The driver of the tractor trailer has been taken into custody and has been identified as Johnny Allen Spell, 37, of 192 Bud Spell Lane, Roseboro.

The investigation is on-going. Troopers will be consulting with Sampson County District Attorneys Office to discuss possible charges.

The identity of the deceased child is not being released at this time pending next of kin notification.

The hit and run collision happened around 3:30 p.m. the community of Harrells.

Troopers said a Sampson County school bus was traveling south on U.S. Highway 421 near Herring Road. The bus stopped with its lights flashing and was letting off a student.

A tractor trailer hauling timber, which was also traveling south on U.S. 421, apparently passed the stopped school bus and struck the child.