Following a fatal vehicle accident in 2017 which left a Mississippi State University athlete dead and two others injured, a state trooper involved in the crash was indicted for manslaughter.
An Oktibbeha County grand jury filed a single-count indictment on Kyle M. Lee for manslaughter/culpable negligence on Jan. 10.
Around 1:25 a.m. May 7, 2017, MSU track team member Kaelin Kersh and two of her friends, Tanequa Alexander and Noel Collier, were driving near MSU’s campus when Collier’s 2002 Toyota Corolla was crashed into by Lee in his Mississippi Highway Patrol 2016 Ford Explorer. According to the indictment, Lee had been speeding, topping out at 99 miles per hour without his emergency lights or emergency sirens on.
According to court documentation, Collier allegedly was getting on Highway 182 after merging off of Highway 12. As Collier entered onto Highway 182, Lee allegedly then crashed into Collier’s Corolla on the driver’s side.
Kersh was pronounced dead at the scene, and Alexander and Collier both faced injuries.
According to the ruling, Lee’s bond was set for $5,000. Lee was released on bond from the Oktibbeha County Jail Thursday.
Oktibbeha County Circuit Court Judge Lee Coleman ordered $500,000 should be payed to Kersh’s estate and the survivors from the accident by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
Alexander filed the complaint that led to this repayment. The complaint states Lee was responsible for the injuries and damages caused during the wreck while Lee was operating his patrol vehicle.
Rep. Gary Chism produced a legislative act as a result of the accident to prevent any future accidents involving an emergency vehicle that speeds and does not use emergency lights or sirens. This bill became effective on July 1, 2018.
House Bill 1202, or the “Kaelin Kersh Act,” requires “any operator of an emergency vehicle authorized to be marked with blinking, rotating or oscillating lights shall use blinking, rotating or oscillating lights when operating the emergency vehicle at a speed in excess of thirty miles per hour over the posted speed limit; and for related purposes.”