Apex driver charged after Cary man struck and killed while cycling

Charges were filed against the driver of a pickup truck after he hit and killed a Cary man while he was riding his bicycle on Friday, the N.C. Highway Patrol said Monday.

Highway Patrol officials said Jason Markley, 36, succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the collision after the 2006 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Ramsey Even Capps struck him about 6:37 a.m.

Capps, 42, of Apex, has been charged with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle and failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision. Capps was not injured.

The Highway Patrol said Markley was heading south and attempting to turn left off of N.C. 751 near its intersection with Luther Road when Capps struck him from behind. Markley was the only cyclist on the road, officials said, just over the Chatham County line.

Sgt. Michael Baker, the Highway Patrol’s assistant public information officer, said the investigation is ongoing.

It was the second crash involving cyclists in the Triangle in five days. The crash occurred days after Cary official Lori Cove of Raleigh and Virginia Davis of Cary were struck by a driver around 6:45 p.m. on Oct. 17. Both women were riding their bicycles with two other cyclists on High House Road near Cary’s Bond Park when they were hit.

Markley leaves behind his wife, Pamela Markley, and his children, William, Cora and Charles, according to his obituary, which also said Markley “loved to live fully and enjoyed biking, hiking and anything active outdoors.”

Jonathan Bow, lead pastor at Cary’s Crosspointe Church where Markley was a member, said he knew Markley for about seven years. He counted him and his wife as family friends as well as congregants. Bow remembers Markley as “incredibly kind, committed and passionate” toward the church, his work, and his friends and family. The engineer worked at Cisco and often helped “behind the scenes” managing the church’s information technology systems, Bow said.

“So many times we want to do grand things and mark that as success, but loving the people around us really well is what success looks like,” Bow said. “That’s why we’re seeing such an outpouring of grief and love for Jason.”

Markley’s memorial service will take place at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Wake Memorial Park.

“For us, as we grieve, we’re trying not to spend a lot of time on the ‘why’ questions,” Bow said. “We’re trying to ask the ‘what’ questions – what can we do to help his wife and kids, to be better advocates for bike safety.”

Cove condition critical

Cove, 48, the Town of Cary’s transportation and facilities director, remained in critical condition. Davis, 55, was in fair condition Thursday but her status was unavailable Monday.

Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht said Friday that town staff were shook up about the accident involving one of their own. Employees were providing meals to the Cove’s family, and they wore Cove’s favorite color of pink to work in her honor.

“She’s an amazing person,” he said. “We are all hoping for a miracle that she’ll recover. We really love her dearly. She’s a member of the family you might say, and council members and staff members and all her biker buddies and everybody else has been holding vigil at the hospital hoping she will recover soon.”

Christopher Lee Moore, 33, of Morrisville was charged with two counts of felony hit-and-run. As of Thursday, Moore remained in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Lori Cove, Cary’s transportation and facilities director, had been upgraded to serious condition. She was in critical condition Monday and remains so at WakeMed Hospital in Raleigh.

Madison Iszler contributed to this report.

This story was originally published October 23, 2016 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Apex driver charged after Cary man struck and killed while cycling."