KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Prosecutors in Missouri have charged a woman from Oregon, Wisconsin, in connection with a deadly crash that killed a local middle school teacher.
Court documents filed in Jackson County, Missouri on Monday identified 27-year-old Kyrie Fields as the woman responsible for crashing into a bicyclist the morning of Aug. 27. Fields, who was arrested Monday, faces one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and one count of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
Kansas City CBS affiliate KCTV5 reported days after the crash that the bicyclist was Charles Criniere, a teacher at a local middle school and father of 10 children. According to their report, the crash happened around 6:15 a.m. at an intersection on the city’s southeast side.
According to the probable cause statement filed by prosecutors, Criniere was found dead at the scene when law enforcement officials arrived. Police also found parts of the suspect vehicle, which was later determined to be a white Acura MDX.
During an interview with law enforcement following her arrest, Fields admitted that she was driving while high on Percocet at the time of the crash. She also reportedly told investigators that she had been texting while driving prior to the crash.
The statement goes on to say law enforcement later found the Acura that Fields was driving had been burned on Kansas City’s southeast side. The vehicle parts found at the scene were later matched with the burned Acura, according to prosecutors.
While talking with investigators, Fields reportedly admitted to driving the vehicle to a residence just over a mile away from where she hit Criniere. When she got to the residence, she allegedly told her friend who lived there that she had hit a deer.
Fields later called a tow truck but told investigators she didn’t remember calling one because she had taken more Percocet when she got to her friend’s residence.
Fields told law enforcement she didn’t know who had burned the vehicle, but video surveillance from the area where it was found reportedly showed a man setting it on fire early on the morning of Aug. 28, just a day after the crash. Prosecutors went on to allege that Fields and her friend who lived at the residence where she brought the Acura had exchanged messages mentioning the address where the vehicle was found shortly before the Acura was set on fire.
Online court records from Jackson County, Missouri show Fields’ bond was set at $100,000 on Tuesday. A follow-up court date had not yet been set as of Tuesday afternoon.
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