By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- One year after a former Massena woman was killed while lying in a roadway, there are few answers as to the nature of her death or why she was in the road to begin with.

On Dec. 4, 2015, 33-year-old Ashley McDonald of Lyon Mountain, formerly of Massena, was struck by a car and killed while lying in the road on county Route 7 near Taylor Road. Megan Phelix of Massena drove the vehicle.

Autopsy results released soon after her death indicted she was killed by "multiple severe traumatic and compressive injuries.” Police and prosecutors have not released the manner of her death.

New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Captain Robert LaFountain said police have questions for McDonald’s husband, Bryan McDonald, 35, who was at the scene of his wife’s death. He has sought legal council and isn’t talking, the BCI captain said.

“Since the circumstances surrounding her death remain under investigation, the manner of death has still not been determined. There are several questions the state police have concerning this matter, however Mr. McDonald has retained an attorney and has declined to provide answers as of this date,” LaFountain said in a Dec. 1 phone interview. “There are a number of questions the state police have based on our investigation, the time line and incidents in witness accounts prior to her death.”

LaFountain said due to the ongoing investigation, he could not say what witnesses claim to have seen.

“Why and how she ended up in the roadway remains under investigation,” he said.

A story in the Dec. 3-9 Massena-Ogdensburg edition of North Country This Week says LaFountain did not answer requests for an update on the case. He returned phone calls shortly after the press deadline. The St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office did not return requests for updates.

In late October, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Haberkornhalm in October said prosecutors know if McDonald’s death was foul play or not, but aren’t ready to say.

“I do know but I can’t comment on those details,” he said at the time. “I can’t say what developments have been made, but it’s still an active investigation. There are investigators working on that case.”

Police and prosecutors have also declined to comment on why McDonald was in the road.

Bryan McDonald admitted in court in October to severely beating a senior citizen couple who stopped to offer aid on Dec. 4, 2015. He pleaded to reduced counts of attempted second-degree assault and was placed on five years probation. He was a supervisory U.S. Border Patrol Agent with about a dozen years on the job. He resigned around the time of the plea, but had been on paid leave since he was charged with second-degree assault in December 2015.

Haberkornhalm in October said there are several reports that need to come together before police can make their final determinations, among them a collision reconstruction report and an autopsy report.

“What I can tell you is I think the collision reconstruction investigation has been completed, however the report has not been finalized yet. The final determinations are pending,” he said in October.

The ADA said he doesn’t know how much longer the probe will take.

“Good police work takes time, so however long it takes is however long it takes,” he said. “I hope we can make a decision sooner than later, but if it comes later, then that’s just the way it comes. Good investigations take time. We have to be willing to give the investigators the time they need to do a good job”

In June, state police denied a Freedom of Information Law request from North Country This Week that sought as many of the case records as possible.

The request also sought any communications or interoffice memos regarding the case, and any certified records pertaining to the case, the Collision Reconstruction Unit report and the autopsy report.

“Please be advised that the records located responsive to your request concern an on-going investigation, therefore your request is denied. These are records which were compiled for law enforcement purposes and which, if disclosed, would interfere with a law enforcement investigation,” wrote Lt. Debra L. Benzinger, the state police records access officer.

Attempts to reach members of Ashley McDonald’s family were unsuccessful.

One of her old friends, Ashlee Sweeney of Massena, said she has many fond memories of McDonald.

“She was really bubbly, always willing to help out. A great friend, a wonderful mother,” Sweeney said. “I’m sad for the family that there hasn’t been any closure for them.”

She said she recalls gatherings at McDonald’s house that tended to work in a four-legged party crasher.

“Every time we ended up having a party at her house, a goat ended up in her house,” Sweeney recalled with a chuckle. “She had a goat.”

She said she is dismayed that the case has dragged out for a year in front of the public.

“I’m sad it’s been made kind of a spectacle,” Sweeney said.