An inmate from North Carolina admits to committing a fatal hit-and-run accident in 1989 while on work release from prison.

In 1989, on the fourth day after Christmas, a 52-year-old mother named Ruth Buchanan was walking on a street in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a friend after shopping at a department store when she was struck by a driver who ran a red light.

According to witnesses, the vehicle didn't stop, didn't render aid, and continued to flee the scene after her body landed on the opposite side of the intersection, as stated by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Sgt. Gavin Jackson in a video released by police Friday.

Buchanan died in a hospital the next day.

After decades of the case being cold, DNA technology helped reopen it, and Herbert Stanback, now 68, confessed to the 35-year-old crime.

Despite obtaining a vehicle description and license plate number from witnesses, the Mercedes involved in the accident was not the one with the stolen tag, and it was not the car that struck Buchanan.

Personal items, including a marijuana cigarette, were discovered in the suspect's vehicle, which was confirmed by investigators.

In 2022, a case was reopened after a failed tip. DNA from a cigarette was tested and matched Herbert Stanback, who was already in custody at the Department of Adult Corrections in North Carolina on an unrelated charge.

According to records, Stanback was imprisoned at a defunct Charlotte prison.

At the time of the hit-and-run, he was incarcerated at Charlotte Correctional, but he was on a work-release program, where he would leave in the morning and return in the evening, and he was working at a hotel one or two blocks up the street.

Stanback returned to the prison after hitting Buchanan and fleeing.

Jackson stated, "It was a once-in-a-career experience to inform the family of something significant. I spoke to Ruth's son and provided closure for the family. The call was not anticipated."

"This serves as an illustration, although not every situation will be resolved in this manner, but you never know what may transpire in the future. The remarkable fact that scientists have been able to trace DNA back to a specific individual over three decades after obtaining it is truly astonishing."

The witness information and initial reports from responding officers in 1989 were also vital to resolving Buchanan's death.