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Background: The scene of the crash in Nashville, Tennessee (WTVF/YouTube). Inset top: Ray Eugene Padgett (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department). Inset bottom: Oluwalayomi Fadero (GoFundMe).
In Tennessee, a man stands accused of stealing a pickup truck and triggering a fatal chain of events that ended with him crashing into a sedan, resulting in the death of its driver.
Ray Eugene Padgett, aged 52, faces serious charges including criminally negligent homicide and vehicular homicide by recklessness following the tragic death of 23-year-old Oluwalayomi Fadero. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has confirmed these charges, highlighting the gravity of the situation. Furthermore, Padgett is also charged with felony reckless endangerment, attempted criminal homicide, and operating a vehicle with a revoked license.
The troubling events unfolded on a Friday morning when Padgett, who was out on parole, allegedly stole a Ford F-250 pickup truck from a Nashville car lot. The lot owner, determined to retrieve his property, tracked the suspect to an alley on St. Louis Street.
However, when the owner confronted him, Padgett allegedly reversed the truck, colliding with the owner’s vehicle before making a swift escape. Police anticipate filing additional charges related to this altercation.
As Padgett continued his reckless journey, law enforcement was alerted to the theft. A plainclothes detective in an unmarked police SUV stationed at the connector road between Murfreesboro Pike and Old Murfreesboro Pike became the next target in this dangerous pursuit. Authorities report that Padgett rammed into the vehicle, an act that led to an attempted criminal homicide charge.
The officer in the unmarked SUV was OK, area NBC affiliate WSMV reported. Police also sent a helicopter to track the stolen pickup truck.
A police pursuit continued on Murfreesboro Pike, with speeds reportedly reaching up to 80 mph. About five minutes after the incident with the unmarked vehicle, Fadero was also on the Nashville road.
She tried to turn off Murfreesboro Pike onto Hickory Woods Drive when Padgett — driving on the wrong side of the road — “violently struck” the driver”s side of her Hyundai Elantra sedan, authorities say. The collision is said to have sent both vehicles careening about 100 yards into a ditch.
Aerial footage from local CBS affiliate WTVF showed extensive damage to the sedan in the aftermath of the crash, with the pickup truck appearing to be lodged into the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Fadero died. Padgett was taken to an area hospital with “minor injuries.” After being taken to and discharged from a hospital, he was arrested on Saturday.
Padgett had “at least 20 criminal convictions in five Tennessee counties” before the crash, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said. He was jailed on $805,000 bond.
A GoFundMe for Fadero says she was turning onto the road where she lived when she was killed.
“She was simply on her way home, and her dog Nala was with her in the car,” the fundraiser states, adding that “[m]iraculously, Nala survived the crash and was reunited with Oluwalayomi’s loved ones.”
“[T]he loss of Oluwalayomi has left a deep void in the hearts of everyone who knew her,” it goes on, saying Fadero was set to complete a nursing degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in August. “Oluwalayomi was known for her kindness, her bright spirit, and the love she shared with her family, friends, and her dog Nala.”