A 52-year-old man faces homicide charges in Tennessee after allegedly stealing a Ford F-250 pickup truck and crashing into a woman's sedan, killing her during a police chase. The incident occurred on Murfreesboro Pike in Nashville, sending both vehicles 100 yards into a ditch. Ray Eugene Padgett was arrested following the Friday morning crash.
Ray Eugene Padgett, 52, stole a Ford F-250 from a Nashville car lot on Friday morning while on parole, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. The lot owner tracked him to an alley off St. Louis Street, where Padgett reversed and rammed the owner's vehicle before fleeing. Charges related to this ramming are expected, police said. Authorities identified the theft and deployed resources, including a helicopter for tracking. A plainclothes detective in an unmarked SUV at the connector between Murfreesboro Pike and Old Murfreesboro Pike was also rammed by Padgett, unharmed, leading to an attempted criminal homicide charge. The officer was unhurt, as reported by local NBC affiliate WSMV. The pursuit continued on Murfreesboro Pike at speeds up to 80 mph. About five minutes after the unmarked SUV incident, 23-year-old Oluwalayomi Fadero was turning her Hyundai Elantra from Murfreesboro Pike onto Hickory Woods Drive when Padgett, driving on the wrong side of the road, struck her driver's side. The impact propelled both vehicles roughly 100 yards into a ditch. Aerial footage from local CBS affiliate WTVF captured the sedan heavily damaged with the truck lodged into it. Fadero died at the scene; Padgett sustained minor injuries, was hospitalized, discharged, and arrested Saturday. He faces charges of criminally negligent homicide, vehicular homicide by recklessness, felony reckless endangerment, attempted criminal homicide, and driving on a revoked license. Padgett has at least 20 prior convictions across five Tennessee counties and is held on $805,000 bond. A GoFundMe for Fadero notes she was heading home with her dog Nala, who survived and was reunited with family. Fadero was due to complete her nursing degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in August.