A Russellville man died Thursday night when his car struck a horse on Franklin County 724 at 11:35 p.m.

Richard Hugh Murphy, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene by officials after his 2000 Toyota Camry hit a horse that was standing in the county road three miles east of Russellville.

Officials reported that Murphy was not using a seat belt at the time of the crash.

Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said prosecution of the animal’s owners would not be likely in this case.

“It would be hard to bring something like that in and prosecute it,” Rushing said. “Unless there had been numerous complaints and the animal had been reported in the road many times before, it would be hard to prove any kind of negligence. It would be very rare and it would go to a grand jury for consideration”

Alabama State Troopers continue to investigate the single-vehicle crash that occurred Dec. 4.