UPDATE: Wise County man pleads guilty to manslaughter in tree-cutting case

A Wise County, Virginia man cutting wood without a land owner’s permission on a hill looking over Route 23 in Pound faces prison time after that tree fell on an oncoming car killing the driver.

Tony Curtis Osborne, 39, pleaded guilty to the 2019 manslaughter death of 64-year-old Iris Walker. Prosecutors said Walker died of her injuries before emergency help could arrive while Osborne put other lives at risk. Osborne informed police he had been cutting down trees and selling firewood for two years.

Osborne will be sentenced on July 21st.

(IMAGE: Bristol Broadcasting Archives)