Chautauqua County’s public defender said he is in the process of gathering preliminary information regarding the New Year’s Eve accident in Jamestown that killed a 15-year-old girl.

Ned Barone, whose office is representing Randall Rolison, said he is preparing to file a bail recommendation with Chautauqua County Court Judge David Foley. The case is being moved from Jamestown City Court to county court.

“Regarding this case, it’s in the early stages at this point,” Barone said Thursday. “We’re trying to gather facts. There’s a lot of things being talked about. We conducted the preliminary hearing and the court held him over for grand jury presentation, which is not that unusual.”

Rolison was operating a tractor-trailer hauling several vehicles early Friday afternoon when he struck Alexis Catherine Hughan, who had been crossing West Sixth Street at the intersection of Washington Street. The car hauler, which continued on West Sixth Street after the accident, was eventually stopped in the parking lot of the Chautauqua Mall.

Hughan was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 58-year-old Jamestown truck driver was initially charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. Few details regarding the accident have been made public due to an ongoing investigation.

Rolison was not immediately jailed after charges were announced, with Jamestown police citing New York’s bail reform law that eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges.

However, on Wednesday, the Jamestown Police Department — coordinating with the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office — announced an upgraded charge of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving a death. The charge is a class D felony, and resulted in Rolison being jailed without bail.

A preliminary hearing was held Wednesday in Jamestown City Court in front of Judge John LaMancuso. Rolison was remanded back to jail and held for grand jury action.

“The investigation is continuing and additional charges are possible pending the result of toxicology from the defendant’s blood that was submitted to the NY State Police Crime Lab in Albany,” the Jamestown Police Department said in a news release.

Barone said there are still several unknowns regarding the case.

“We’ll start going through putting information together and start looking at this,” he said. “Obviously, things are unknown at this point on what may have happened and what didn’t happen. That’s why there’s a presumption of innocence. Unfortunately, a young girl lost her life — that’s always a terrible situation.”

He added, “We’ll address the bail in the next couple of days. This has been transferred to county court before Foley. We’ll address the bail issue and the court will take a look at it.”