JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. – No criminal charges will be filed against a man who was driving the vehicle that struck and killed a 13-year-old girl last year.
According to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office, Meadow Grace Boyd and her father were waiting for the girl’s school bus on the dark, foggy morning of October 30, 2017. Once he saw the bus coming, Boyd’s father dropped her off at the end of their driveway on East Evans Creek Road and drove away.
Investigators believe Boyd leaned toward the approaching bus in an attempt to signal the driver by using a light on her cell phone. Tragically, part of a passing vehicle struck Meadow in the head before the bus could pick her up.
Prosecutors said the driver kept going, along with the bus. Meadow was found on the ground by a passer-by just before 7:30 that morning. That person called 911 and performed CPR until medics arrived. Boyd was taken to Rogue Regional Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
After news of Boyd’s death spread, a man came forward saying he may have been the one that struck Boyd. According to the D.A.’s office, the man was “extremely distraught and in tears” when he arrived at the sheriff’s office.
According to the man, a line of cars was coming toward him and blinded him. He thought he had hit a garbage can, as there were many lined up along the roadway.
Prosecutors stated the man’s vehicle had a camper bed with protruding jack stands on each corner. Fiber from Boyd’s clothing was later found on the front passenger side jack stand on the camper.
The D.A.’s office determined the man was not intoxicated or distracted, and speed wasn’t a factor in Boyd’s death. It was also determined the man didn’t know he had struck Boyd. “The events were a terrible tragedy,” prosecutors wrote. “However, they do not rise to the level of criminal conduct.”
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.