POLICE are continuing to investigate a hit-and-run incident in Nyah West, from 2017, which resulted in the death of a 23-year-old Tongan national.
Tomodachi Leha was found dead on January 29 on Nyah West Road by a passer-by.
Police deemed the incident a hit-and-run.
A Victoria Police spokesperson told The Guardian an inquest brief was provided to the coroner, and has been the subject of a coroner’s finding without an inquest on June 14 this year.
“The investigation remains with the Major Collision Investigation Unit and is ongoing,” she said.
The spokesperson said the coroner could issue findings regardless of whether an inquest was held or not.
According to the Coroners Court of Victoria (CCV), an inquest is a public hearing into a death or a fire.
The CCV said inquests were not held for every investigation, with only around 100 held each year, which they said was less than five per cent of all investigations.
In January 2017, The Guardian reported that a man’s body was found on Nyah West Road on January 29, around 4.30am.
A passer-by discovered the body, near the intersection with Maton Lane, where police believe he was run over by an unknown vehicle.
Following the incident, Victoria Police Major Collision Investigation Unit Detective Sergeant Mark Amos had told The Guardian a Polynesian man was struck by a vehicle between the hours of 2.30am and 4.30am along Nyah West Road.
Det-Sgt Amos had said the man came in contact with a vehicle, had suffered some serious injuries and died on the road.
In the same year, Bryce Airs died following a hit-and-run incident on Mansfield-Woods Point Road in Jamieson on November 25.
In 2019, an appeal for information for both incidences were made as part of a Crime Stoppers Victoria campaign.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
