Police and the conductor first thought a LaGrange man who died Thursday had been hit by a train. But now it looks more like murder.

The injuries suffered by Jerry Bernard Jones, 24, of 121 Timothy St., were likely the result of a “physical assault,” police Capt. Dale Strickland said Thursday night.

The conductor assumed Jones had been hit by a train when he saw him lying 6 to 8 feet from the tracks shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday under the Horace King Bridge off Lafayette Parkway. But a video from the locomotive showed that Jones was not struck by the train.

Jones, conscious but incoherent and visibly injured, was taken by ambulance to Columbus Medical Center, where he died at 11:21 a.m. after surgery to repair his liver and spleen, Troup County Coroner Jeff Cook said.

“Detectives later spoke with (hospital) personnel … and found that the injuries were likely caused during a physical assault,” police said in a statement. “… The case is being investigated by the LaGrange Police Department as a murder.”

An autopsy was scheduled today at the GBI crime lab in Atlanta in an effort to determine the cause and manner of death.

Jones, dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and high-top shoes, didn’t have any identification in his clothing, but police later discovered his name through a fingerprint match. His mother was notified Thursday afternoon.

A train headed in the opposite direction on another set of tracks also stopped when Jones was found, but CSX Transportation employees said video from that locomotive didn’t show anything useful. Police want to see it anyhow for possible clues into the assault.

Anyone with information was asked to call police at (706) 883-2603 or Crime Stoppers at (706) 812-1000.

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.