Splatsín First Nation mourns Harry Jones, artist and karaoke singer killed while crossing highway

The Splatsín First Nation is calling for traffic lights on a busy southern Interior highway where one of their members was killed by a car last weekend.

Harry Joseph Jones, Jr., 62, died after being struck by a vehicle while trying to cross Highway 97A on a marked crosswalk in the community about 25 kilometres south of Salmon Arm, in B.C.'s North Okanagan-Shuswap region.

Julie Litt, who is a receptionist at Splatsín band office, said the community is "absolutely devastated" by Jones' death.

"He was just a gem of the community, and it's just a real gut punch," she told CBC News. Litt described Jones as "such a free spirit" and a devoted karaoke enthusiast who loved to sing classic and hard rock, and especially loved Creedence Clearwater Revival.

"He was an all-star karaoke singer," Litt said, "completely uninhibited, a great singer and dancer."

The B.C. RCMP said the victim died after being hit by a Subaru Impreza on the highway around noon last Saturday, near Canyon Road. 

"Tragically, the pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene," RCMP Cpl. Mike Moore said in a statement Wednesday.

The driver, a 60-year-old man from Vernon, remained on the scene and was co-operative with investigators, RCMP said.

Jones is the latest person killed by a motorist on a B.C. highway. On Wednesday, a driver struck and killed Claire Newman, a city councillor in Merritt, B.C., on Highway 16 near Valemount, B.C. In a statement, police suggested the 46-year-old's death may have been a hit-and-run.

CBC News requested an update Friday from the RCMP on the Highway 97A investigation, but did not heard back by time of publication.

Jones' First Nation and several family members confirmed his identity, and said the community is holding memorial events for Jones all weekend starting Friday.