Family mourns Vernon motorcyclist killed in hit-and-run, police announce arrest

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Vernon police have made an arrest in a deadly hit-and-run last month that took the life of a 25-year-old motorcyclist.

James Faulkner, 25, was killed on Feb. 27 while riding his motorcycle. Vernon police said a driver crashed into him, and that suspect took off running. He left his white Infiniti behind.

Vernon police said they arrested 20-year-old Jahmarcus Mccatty, of Hartford, for his involvement in the deadly crash.

Mccatty faces a slew of charges including manslaughter, evading responsibility resulting in death, larceny, reckless driving, illegal racing and more. He is being held on a $1 million bond and is set to appear in court on Friday.

Faulkner’s sister Heather, in an exclusive interview with NBC Connecticut, said it’s been an agonizing two weeks waiting for answers.

“It's just really hard,” she said. "Frustrating that somebody would do that and run away. I hope they don’t sleep at night.”

She said her brother was the youngest of five and was always up for an adventure.

“Very adventurous, he was an avid sportsman. 10-point buck, 12-point, everything you could name, he got. He was a very avid fisherman,” Faulkner said. “He’s got a pointer, his dog Trigger. He loved to go hunting with him, bird hunting.”

Faulkner loved motorcycles, she said, and has a large community of friends in the motorcycle community who’ve stood by the family following the tragedy.

“It was his second family. They loved him like a brother. Everyday, they check in every day. They’re awesome people,” Heather said.

While police haven't said what led up to the crash, Faulkner said she's heard theories and first-hand accounts from people who saw her brother driving shortly before the crash.

“I read online that people said that he was very concerned with the car behind him, kept looking back and kept looking back,” she said. “That tells me he was being chased. He was trying to lose him in the turns and get away from him, and that person just couldn’t let it go.”

Faulkner is pregnant with her third child, and can’t help but think all that her brother is missing out on.

“He didn’t deserve what happened to him at all. It was a very harsh thing for somebody to do, somebody who had so much life left. He was robbed. He was robbed of everything he could have possibly had, a family, everything,” she said. “He robbed somebody of so many years. He’s got a niece he didn’t even get to meet yet.”

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