ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — More than a year after Moline Acres Police Sgt. Herschel Turner Jr. was struck and killed during a traffic stop, prosecutors have charged the former Bellefontaine Neighbors officer who struck him with manslaughter.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office announced Wednesday it has charged Brian Rayford, 41, of Florissant, with first-degree involuntary manslaughter, a Class C felony. The court set his bond at $100,000 cash-only, with 10% authorized.
A Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation concluded that Rayford, who was then a Bellefontaine Neighbors officer, caused the death of Sgt. Turner on Dec. 5, 2020, by striking him with his patrol car while pursuing a vehicle.
The prosecuting attorney's office said in a Wednesday release announcing the charges that Rayford pursued the vehicle despite not having confirmed that the suspects involved had committed or had attempted to commit a dangerous felony.
"Rayford engaged in this pursuit without a supervisor’s authorization or any reasonable evidence that the need to immediately apprehend the driver of the vehicle outweighed the level of danger to the public created by his pursuit," the release stated.
During the pursuit, Rayford drove at approximately 80 to 85 mph, exceeding the posted limit by 30 mph, without sirens activated, the prosecuting attorney's office said. He also drove westbound into the eastbound lanes on Dunn Road without activating his emergency equipment.
He then fatally struck Turner, who was conducting a traffic stop on Chambers Road between Norwich Drive and Lance Drive.
Rayford made statements about the pursuit to investigating officers that contradicted evidence from the crash investigation and reconstruction, the prosecuting attorney's office said.
Bellefontaine Neighbors Chief Jeremy Ihler said he was heartbroken when he received that early morning call about the accident.
“When I heard about it, got the phone call, I was in shock,” Ihler said. “Our hearts will always go out to the Turner family and city moline acres police department for their tragic loss.”
Ihler initially backed his officer but upon further review, he fired Rayford for his actions. Ihler said Rayford isn’t a bad man but he created a very reckless situation that resulted in the death of a law enforcement officer.
Chief Ihler said multiple steps need to happen before an officer can begin a pursuit within his department: Supervisor approval, reasonable evidence a dangerous felony occurred, weather, traffic and the discretion of the officer behind the wheel.
St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman has been leading conversations to create a police pursuit standard across the region. Bowman said this is about protecting the lives of civilians and first responders.
“It's been shown in statistics there's actually more fatalities in car chases than police shootings,” Bowman said. “What you have done is launched a larger piece of metal instead of a bullet.”
Bowman said the NAACP plans on speaking with the Department of Justice in the fall about was to reduce the number of police pursuits.
Turner's death was investigated and is being prosecuted by the Conviction and Incident Review Unit of the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
"We understand being an officer is a very tough job. When initiating a high-speed pursuit of a vehicle, police officers need to make sound decisions that responsibly balance the danger that their pursuit will cause against the threat an offender potentially poses to the community. Some facts show closer calls, but this was not close," said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in the release. "We believe the evidence shows that this officer did not make sound decisions and, tragically, that caused the death of a police sergeant who was just doing his job."
The sentencing range for the Class C felony is from 3-10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.