24-Year-Old Facing Murder Charge After Allegedly Shoving Elderly Man in Road Rage Incident

A 24-year-old North Carolina man is facing a murder charge after he was seen getting out of a car and shoving an elderly man to the ground in a deadly road rage incident, authorities allege.

Tyler Coenraads of Asheville was arrested on Monday and charged with second-degree murder after allegedly assaulting Gregory William Martin, 73, who later died from injuries he sustained when he was pushed to the ground, the Asheville Police Department said in a statement.

The charges stem from a Feb. 29 incident, when police responded to a crosswalk at the exit ramp of I-240 and Haywood Road in Asheville to investigate an alleged assault on a pedestrian. 

Martin, the pedestrian, can be seen on surveillance video at the intersection hitting the hood of a vehicle that was stopped at a light as he started to cross the road, the APD said in a statement.

The vehicle, a white SUV, can be seen blocking the crosswalk in a video provided by the APD and obtained by the Citizen Times.

Martin can be seen throwing his arms up in the air and as he walks across the street before he turns around and approaches the vehicle, which pulled over to the side of the road.

Martin then walks away from the SUV. "The passenger then emerged from the vehicle and pushed the pedestrian to the ground,” the APD alleges in the statement. “Following the assault, the suspect re-entered the vehicle and then fled the scene.” 

Martin sustained severe head trauma and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Detectives launched an investigation and identified Coenraads as the suspect, the APD said in the statement. On March 8, he was charged with assault, inflicting serious bodily injury.

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He turned himself in to the Buncombe County Detention Facility on March 8 and was booked under a $5,000 secured bond and was later released. Four days later, Martin succumbed to his injuries. 

“Upon completion of the Asheville Police Department's investigation and of the State Medical Examiner's Office findings, along with consultation of Buncombe County District Attorney's Office, criminal charges were brought forth on Tyler Coenraads for Second Degree Murder,” the APD said in the statement.

According to an April 5 warrant issued for Coenraads’ arrest obtained by the Citizen Times, he "unlawfully, willfully and feloniously did kill Gregory William Martin, another living human being, with malice."

Coenraads turned himself in on the newer charge on Monday. He is being held at the Buncombe County Detention Facility without bond.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Coenraad’s attorney Al Messer said, "We are disappointed in the District Attorney’s charging decision. This is a tragic incident but my client, Mr. Coenraads, is not guilty of Second Degree Murder. The video that has been publicized does not capture all the actions, behaviors or circumstances of the parties involved. We look forward to the opportunity to provide the full context of the incident. Once the full context is presented in court, we are confident Mr. Coenraads will be acquitted of Second Degree Murder."