Oak Ridge Today

Woman charged with homicide in death of motorcyclist

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Noelle Leigh Patty

Noelle Leigh Patty

 

This story was last updated at 12:30 p.m.

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with homicide in the death of a motorcyclist in a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016. It’s one of two new felony charges added in the case against Noelle Leigh Patty, 40.

Patty is accused of criminally negligent conduct that resulted in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center, on January 31, 2016.

Patty was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on August 1, 2017, and she is facing five criminal charges. Two of the charges are felonies, and three are misdemeanors. The two felony charges, which are both new, are criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon is involved. The three misdemeanor charges are failure to obey a traffic control device, failure to provide proof of insurance, and failure to yield the right of way, resulting in death. [Read more…]

Man indicted on vehicular homicide, other charges after Clinton Highway crash

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Scott-Gray-Hearing-Aug-11-2016

Scott Gray, who has been indicted on vehicular homicide and other charges, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—A Knoxville man has been indicted on vehicular homicide and other charges in the death of a 23-year-old Heiskell woman after a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in April 2016.

The specific homicide charge against Scott Allen Gray, 27, is vehicular homicide by intoxication. Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers testified during an August 11 preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton that Gray smelled of alcohol and said he had been drinking and taken two anti-anxiety pills before the crash. Gray’s passenger, Jessica Miner Taylor, died about a week after the crash.

The Anderson County Grand Jury also indicted Gray on charges of reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon (a motor vehicle) is involved; failure to yield the right of way, resulting in death; failure of provide evidence of insurance; failure to carry a certificate of registration; failure to use due care; violation of the open container law; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possession of marijuana.

Gray had an arraignment and bond hearing scheduled this past Friday in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.

Charges against Gray were bound over, or sent to the Grand Jury, during the preliminary hearing in August. The indictments were filed May 2. An indictment moves a case from Anderson County General Sessions Court to Anderson County Criminal Court. [Read more…]

Defendant in fatal car-motorcycle crash expected to enter plea, waive charges to grand jury, or set preliminary hearing

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Rufus E. Shephard III and Motorcycle

Rufus E. Shephard III is pictured above riding a motorcycle. (Photo courtesy Annette Shephard)

 

An Oak Ridge woman facing three misdemeanor charges in a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January is expected to enter a plea next week, waive the charges to a grand jury, or set a date for a preliminary hearing, court officials said Thursday.

Judge Roger Miller, of Anderson County General Sessions Court Division II in Oak Ridge, said he doesn’t want to reset the case against Noelle Leigh Patty, 29, again. Patty had a status hearing on Thursday, September 1.

She has another status hearing set for 9 a.m. Thursday, September 8, in the Division II court in Oak Ridge. Patty does not have to appear.

The three misdemeanor charges filed against her are failure to yield the right-of-way, resulting in death; a violation of the law to obey traffic control devices; and a failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

Authorities said Patty, who was driving a Cadillac STS on Sunday evening, January 31, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center, and she failed to yield to Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, who was riding a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle north on North Illinois Avenue. Shephard died after colliding with the car, which was turning south in “the pathway of northbound traffic,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in arrest warrants filed after the crash. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman charged with traffic violations in fatal car-motorcycle crash

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North-Illinios-Avenue-Crash-Jan-31-2016-1

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with three traffic violations in the fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue near the Kroger shopping center on January 31. Authorities said the woman, who was driving the car, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane and failed to yield to the motorcyclist, who died. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with three traffic violations in the fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue near the Kroger shopping center on January 31.

Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, died in the crash.

Noelle L. Patty, 29, is accused of failing to obey a traffic control device before the crash, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. That traffic control device is on an access road that connects the Kroger shopping center to North Illinois Avenue. It indicates a right turn only, but Patty turned left, headed south, from the shopping center access road onto Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in the warrants.

That left turn put the Cadillac STS that Patty was driving into the path of northbound traffic on North Illinois Avenue, where a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle driven north by Shephard collided with the Cadillac driven by Patty, Luethge said.

Shepard was launched into the Cadillac and then over it onto the asphalt, where he died, the warrants said. [Read more…]