A Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper has been indicted for culpable negligence manslaughter for the fatal 2017 crash that led to the death of Mississippi State University student-athlete Kaelin Kersh.
Oktibbeha County grand jurors indicted officer Kyle Lee on Jan. 10 for his involvement in the wreck. Lee, according to the indictment, was driving a 2016 Ford Explorer at speeds of up to 99 miles per hour on Highway 182, where the posted speed limit is 45 miles per hour.
The crash happened shortly before 1:30 a.m. on May 7, 2017, at the intersection of Mayhew Road and Highway 182. The car in which Kersh was a passenger, a 2002 Toyota Corolla, was hit while attempting to turn onto the road by Lee’s eastbound patrol unit.
Lee was responding to a call that a car had left the road and reportedly did not activate his flashing lights or siren.
Two other passengers, Tanequa Alexander and Noel A. Collier, were hospitalized after the crash.
Kersh, 22, had graduated from MSU with a degree in kinesiology on May 5. She was a track and field athlete for the Bulldogs.
Mississippi Department of Public Safety Communications Director Therese Apel confirmed Lee is on administrative leave. The department has declined to specify whether Lee’s leave is with or without pay.
District Attorney Scott Colom said Kersh’s family asked his office to conduct an independent investigation shortly after the wreck. He said the results of that investigation were presented to a grand jury, which in turn indicted Lee.
“Ultimately it was a grand jury decision to bring the indictment,” Colom said. “I wanted to make sure the investigation was done and presented fairly to a grand jury and that it was decided fairly based on the information they have and the law as explained to them.”
Trent Walker, a Jackson attorney representing the Kersh family in civil litigation after the wreck, previously told The Dispatch he had evidence that Lee was driving nearly 100 miles per hour. On Thursday, he said the family was pleased with the indictment.
“We already knew and had the evidence with regard to the speed and the fact that there was no light or siren and indeed no emergency,” Walker said. “Under those circumstances, had he been driving the speed limit and obeying the law as the citizens are required to do, there would be no accident and Kaelin Kersh would be with us today. I would say that the family is pleased that the state of Mississippi decided to take this step.”
The wreck spawned a civil lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Last June, Mississippi 16th Circuit Judge Lee Coleman ordered MDPS to pay $500,000 to Alexander, Collier and the Kersh estate.
Last year, state legislators passed, and Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law, the Kaelin Kersh Act, which requires emergency responders to turn on flashing lights when going more than 30 miles per hour faster than the speed limit.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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