SHERBURNE - A Sherburne resident was the victim of a fatal hit and run on July 4, 2025. On Tuesday the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested the suspected driver following an extensive investigation.

The driver, Zackery M. Kulas, 37, of Syracuse, appeared in court Tuesday night and pleaded not guilty to charges of 2nd degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident, and tampering with physical evidence, all felonies.

Police investigators said that on July 4, 2025, Kulas was driving a pick-up truck eastbound on State Highway 80 in the Town of Sherburne when he hit and killed a pedestrian, Jeffery Maxson, 59, of Sherburne, who was walking westbound at the time of the incident.

Several family members of the victim attended the court proceeding held at 8 p.m. at the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office.

Village of Oxford Judge Susan Ross informed Kulas of the charges against him and asked if he wished to make a plea. Public Defender Rosemarie Richards pleaded not guilty to all the charges on his behalf. Richards requested a felony hearing. She declined to comment on the case. A representative from the prosecutor’s office was not present.

Outside court, relatives discussed the impact of Maxson’s death, who was known as “Yogi” to friends and family.

Niece Amanda Heady said the family wanted accountability and justice. She said the driver should have stopped, saying she couldn't forgive that.

She said, “Yogi was a funny character,” with a good spirit.“His mother died of a stroke the day after,” she said.

She had seen her uncle a few days before the incident and at the time he was hit he was walking to her house from downtown Sherburne. She said “He would take his shirt off his back for anyone. Not that we are all perfect, we all make mistakes, but there has to be consequences to our actions.”

Maxson’s sister, Jackie-Ray, said the family remains shaken by multiple losses in a short period of time.

“He was on his way to see her (his mother), when he was killed. I'm just glad they found out who it was. The family can't be at ease - we lost the love of our life but at least his killer is not free. In two days, I lost my mother and my brother,” she said.

Maxson’s wife of seven years, Christal Maxson also attended court. She thanked the sheriff and police. She said Sheriff Detective O’Hara and the New York State Police kept the family informed and asked that the investigators be recognized for their dedication and that online criticism of police was uninformed.

“Detective O'Hara and the New York State police did a marvelous job to bring my husband's killer to justice, she said. “There's been a lot a negativity in the community with issues with sheriffs but Detective O'Hara and his team and the state police were wonderful and I would like to have that reinforced to the community.”

She said police have been in contact with the family and she had seen video showing the driver of the pickup truck pulling his car over a short distance down the road where he looked at his vehicle and used his cell phone. She said the defendant told police that he had struck a guardrail. However, police declined to comment or confirm any details of the case at the court arraignment.

She said her husband’s 60th birthday was later this month.

Chenango County Sheriff Ernest Cutting Jr. thanked the New York State Police, the Syracuse Police Department, and the City of Norwich Police Department for their assistance during the investigation.

“You know, because of legislation that's been passed in the last few years in Albany, a lot of this has to do with discovery. He was on our radar right in the early days of the investigation. But due to the new discovery rules where we have to present information to the defendant and his attorney within a very short amount of time of an arrest, that's what forces us to hold these cases,” explained Cutting.

“We have to wait for forensic evidence to come back. In this case that took quite a while and in a lot of homicide cases it does,” said Cutting. “You know, we have a person who we strongly suspect, and we just have to have that evidence because we have such short turnaround time to get that evidence to their attorney that forces us to wait. It's unfortunate. But we have to be prudent to make sure that we get a successful outcome when it comes to trial.”

“I want to thank the officers, the diligence, persistence, hard work, sticking with it, going through the proper police protocol to make sure we have, not only that we can get the arrest, but we're successful in the convictions of people that commit crimes. They do an outstanding job,” said Cutting.

All charges and accusations are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent of the charges until proven guilty in a court of law.