Authorities have released the name of a Kentucky man who was killed in Charleston on Monday when a heavy tree limb fell about 45 feet, landing on him.

The accident occurred shortly after noon behind the American Electric Power substation on Hillcrest Drive, just off Greenbrier Street.

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Kenny Kemp

Charleston police and firefighters prepare to remove the body of a man from a hillside where a tree limb fell about 45 feet and killed him.

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Robinette was working with another man to cut down a beech tree, Johnson said. The two-man crew was working for AEP, police said.

The men were working on a steep hillside and Robinette was operating a chainsaw, Johnson said. As the tree fell, it knocked loose a large limb of an oak tree, he said.

Robinette was on the ground when the limb, which fire officials guessed weighed between 500 and 800 pounds, landed on him. Police believe he was killed instantly.

"He never even knew what hit him," Sgt. C.A. Dickinson said Monday.

The other man was operating a cable and couldn't see Robinette when the tree limb fell, Johnson said.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, said OSHA spokeswoman Leni Uddyback-Fortson.

Authorities have released the name of a Kentucky man who was killed in Charleston on Monday when a heavy tree limb fell about 45 feet, landing on him.

The accident occurred shortly after noon behind the American Electric Power substation on Hillcrest Drive, just off Greenbrier Street.

Steven Robinette, 35, of Catlettsburg, Ky., worked for Prichard Tree Service, based in Ashland, Ky., Charleston Police Lt. Eric Johnson said today.

Robinette was working with another man to cut down a beech tree, Johnson said. The two-man crew was working for AEP, police said.

The men were working on a steep hillside and Robinette was operating a chainsaw, Johnson said. As the tree fell, it knocked loose a large limb of an oak tree, he said.

Robinette was on the ground when the limb, which fire officials guessed weighed between 500 and 800 pounds, landed on him. Police believe he was killed instantly.

"He never even knew what hit him," Sgt. C.A. Dickinson said Monday.

The other man was operating a cable and couldn't see Robinette when the tree limb fell, Johnson said.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, said OSHA spokeswoman Leni Uddyback-Fortson.