The driver who fatally struck an Atmore woman as she crossed Highway 31 last weekend has died from injuries suffered when he was beaten by angry bar patrons after the crash.

Atmore police Sgt. Darrell McMann confirmed 45-year-old Kenneth E. Harrison, the driver of the vehicle, had died at a trauma center Wednesday, four days after he was severely beaten outside The Tavern sports bar on Highway 31.

The crash occurred late Saturday night when Harrison’s 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe struck 24-year-old Hannah Martin as she made her way across the highway from where she parked her vehicle to the bar.

The impact knocked Martin into the parking lot of the bar and Harrison pulled his vehicle in behind. Martin would be transported to a local hospital, where she died of her injuries.

An unknown number of bar patrons, meanwhile, attacked Harrison, beating him so severely he had to be airlifted to a trauma center, where he remained until dying of his injuries sometime Wednesday.

McMann said investigators are “nearing a resolution” on the investigation into the assault on Harrison and that his death could have a significant impact on charges brought against those identified as having participated.

He noted the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office would make the final determination.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) is handling the investigation into the circumstances of the crash. Repeated requests for information as to whether a toxicology test was performed on Harrison after his arrival at the hospital have gone unanswered.

Court and jail records show Harrison had a criminal history that included a guilty plea in Baldwin County Circuit Court to a reduced charge of manslaughter after he was accused of the murder of a 54-year-old Elberta man.

In 2011, six years after Sanford “Sandy” Lee Ledbetter disappeared from the Magnolia Springs area and a year after his remains were positively identified, Harrison admitted to beating Ledbetter to death.

Harrison was sentenced to 15 years in state prison, with one year credit for time served awaiting trial. That sentence was to run concurrent to a 10-year sentence previously imposed for a theft conviction.

But Harrison was released in February 2016 after serving the minimum of five years. Had he served his full sentence, he would have remained in prison until October 2025, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.