MILL SPRING – The boyfriend of a woman who was killed after he struck her with a rollback along U.S. 74 in April has been charged with second-degree murder.

A Polk County grand jury indicted Edward Doyle Holden, 59, of 194 Emma’s Grove Rd., Fletcher last week and he turned himself in to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office on July 11 with a charge of second-degree murder, according to the sheriff’s office.

Holden and his girlfriend, Cheyanne Marie Griffin, 48, of Fletcher, were hauling a car on a rollback along U.S. 74 on April 29. The hood blew off the car they were hauling, so the two stopped and Griffin got out of the truck to retrieve the hood, according to initial reports. Holden backed the truck up and struck her, according to reports, and first responders found Griffin dead from her injuries on scene.

The N.C. State Highway Patrol, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident, which the sheriff’s office said initially appeared to be accidental.

District Attorney Greg Newman, Polk County Sheriff Donald Hill and supervisors with the N.C. Highway Patrol reviewed the incident again, which caused Hill to assign a special investigator to reopen the case and follow up on additional developments.

The investigation involved technical assistance from the N.C. State Highway Patrol Accident Reconstruction Team, which determined that the incident rose to the level of criminality on the part of Holden, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Investigators determined that Holden was operating a rollback style tow truck and Griffin was a passenger in the truck,” states a release issued Wednesday night, July 12 by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. “Griffin exited the vehicle on Hwy. 74 in the area of mile marker 172 and was subsequently hit and killed by the vehicle Holden was operating.”

Holden was released from the Polk County Jail after posting a $30,000 secured bond.