MEMPHIS, Tenn. — UPDATE 5/14/2021 - (Shelby County District Attorney General News Release) - A Mississippi truck driver was indicted Thursday on reckless vehicular homicide charges related to an interstate crash last summer that killed a 5-year-old girl and injured three other people, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.
Defendant Herandus Washington, 27, of Byhalia, is free on $7,500 bond.
The crash occurred on June 22 last year on I-240 near I-55 when the tractor-trailer he was driving westbound struck the rear of a Toyota SUV as he was changing lanes from left to right, investigators said.
Washington’s truck then pushed the SUV into another a Nissan sedan that had slowed down for vehicles entering the I-240 from the I-55 entrance ramp. The SUV was hit broadside and forced off the roadway by the truck.
Five-year-old Collins Leach, who was in the backseat of the SUV, was taken to a hospital where she died. Her 4-year-old brother, her father and a woman driving the sedan were taken to hospitals in non-critical condition.
The case is being handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Brad Reasonover of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 3 which handles cases in General Sessions Division 11 and in Criminal Court Division 3.
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6/23/2020 - 9:10 a.m.: MPD says the child who was killed is a girl, not a boy. The initial information officers received on the deceases was incorrect.
UPDATED 7:00 a.m. on 6/23/2020: Herandus Washington, 26, is behind bars, charged in the Monday evening's crash that killed 5-year-old Collins Leach.
According to a police affidavit, Washington was driving westbound on I-240 in a white 2016 International 440 truck, when he made an improper lane change, hitting the back of a Toyota 4Runner.
Collins Leach was in the back seat of the SUV when it was hit by the truck.
When the 4Runner was hit, it then rear-ended a Nissan Maxima.
An adult and a 4-year-old in the 4Runner were both taken to hospitals with minor injuries.
The driver of the Nissan also went to the hospital with minor injuries.
Witnesses told police, they saw Washington driving recklessly on I-240 from Airways, repeatedly crossing over the lines.
Washington is charged with vehicular homicide, reckless driving and improper lane changing.
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Memphis Police are investigating after a boy was killed in a crash along the interstate.
The crash happened early Monday evening at I-240 and I-55 South. Police say three people – an adult and two boys – were injured. One boy was taken to Le Bonheur, where he died from his injuries. The other two are listed in non-critical.
Police have not said what led to the crash. Traffic is blocked in the area as the investigation continues.
