The driver of a Ford F150 pickup truck who drove the wrong
way on I-55 on Aug. 29, and crashed his vehicle near Oak Ridge, has been
charged with manslaughter.
According to the probable cause statement, Myron Lee
Tillman, of Columbia, was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of I-55 at
10:36 p.m., when he was involved in a crash at the 88 mile marker in Scott
County.
The driver of a silver GMC Terrain had swerved to avoid
hitting Tillman’s vehicle, but Tillman’s F150 struck the rear of the Terrain.
The Terrain ended up in the ditch.
Tillman left the scene of the accident and continued
northbound in the southbound lanes. He was involved in a second crash at the
111 mile marker near Oak Ridge. When officers arrived at the scene of the
second crash, witnesses told them that a black male had exited the F150, took
his clothes off, and ran into the woods.
Officers searched for Tillman but could not find him.
Meanwhile, an individual was discovered lying on the side of
the road south of the first accident. A North Scott Conty Ambulance paramedic
examined the man and declared him to be dead.
An investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol
revealed that the victim had been hanging out the passenger side window of
Tillman’s F150 and had exited the vehicle prior to the first accident.
The next morning, Tillman knocked on the door of a residence
near the second accident. The resident refused him entry, and called the
Sheriff’s Office.
At approximately 6:30 a.m. that morning, a Cape Girardeu
County Sheriff’s deputy located Tillman and arrested him without incident.
Tillman said the victim had been a passenger in his truck
and had been wanting to get out. Tillman had told him to wait and he would let
him out. It is believed that the victim saw that a head-on auto accident was
imminent and jumped from the F150 before it struck the GMC Terrain.
