Ten-year-old Mississippi child killed in hit-and-run wreck
Published 4:03 pm Wednesday, October 28, 2020
A Copiah County child was killed in a hit-and-run wreck Tuesday night.
At approximately 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wesson Police Department officers responded to calls of a two-vehicle wreck at the intersection of Hwy. 51 and Sylvarena Road in Wesson, WPD Chief Chad O’Quinn told The Daily Leader.
Upon arrival, officers located two vehicles — one with a family of three people inside and another empty after the driver fled the scene. Several good samaritans were on the scene attempting to render aid to the family.
Officers believed the vehicle with family was struck from the rear by the second vehicle which then flipped and crashed into a home at the intersection. Officers believe the driver of the second vehicle — identified as Matthew A. Miller Jr., 21, of 2025 Wooten Lane, Wesson — exited and then fled the scene in an unattended vehicle owned by one of the good samaritans at the scene.
Miller was taken into custody Tuesday night by officers with WPD and Copiah County Sheriff’s Office when he was involved in another wreck on Bahala Road.
The family was transported to area hospitals, where one of the minor children, age 10, was pronounced dead.
Miller was transported to a Jackson hospital.
“Upon his release, he will be arrested and will face several felony charges,” O’Quinn said.
The case will be presented to a Copiah County grand jury, the chief said, with Miller facing charges of vehicular manslaughter, felony taking of a motor vehicle, hit and run, aggravated assault on law enforcement officers and possible further charges.