A grand jury has decided against charging Stanley McFadden of Hillsboro for crashing into a road work zone in St. Louis County late last year, leaving two Missouri Department of Transportation employees dead and another one seriously injured, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell announced today, June 30.
Tonya Musskopf, the mother of one of those employees – Kaitlyn D. Anderson, who was pregnant when she was struck and killed in the accident – said she is devastated that McFadden won’t face any criminal charges in connection with the accident.
On Nov. 18, McFadden, who was 58 at the time, was driving a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier on a ramp from northbound Hwy. 231 (Telegraph Road) to westbound I-255 in south St. Louis County when he hit and killed Anderson, who was 25 and lived in De Soto, and James W. Brooks, 58, of St. Louis. In addition, Michael S. Brown, 35, of House Springs was injured in the accident. Anderson was 6 months pregnant with her first child, Jaxx Jarvis, when she was killed, said her mother,
“I am disgusted, and my heart is broken for my daughter and grandson,” Musskopf said. “My daughter and grandson deserve to have been fought for, and I don’t believe they were.
“It wasn’t an easy case, so Mr. Bell didn’t want to fight. He wants all easy cases. Everyone in St. Louis County should be very concerned that Mr. Bell is their prosecutor, especially if it is a pregnant mother.”
Medical records revealed no alcohol or other intoxicants in McFadden’s system at the time of the fatal crash, Bell said in the written statement announcing the grand jury’s decision.
And, according to McFadden’s phone records, he was not using his phone when the crash occurred, the statement said.
However, McFadden, who is diabetic, was suffering a medical emergency due to a sudden and severe drop in his blood glucose level. According to several medical experts, his medical emergency resulted in a sudden loss of brain function, not unlike the severe impairment from heavy alcohol consumption, the report said.
An independent endocrinologist reviewed McFadden’s medical records, resulting in a diagnosis of hypoglycemia unawareness, which McFadden had not been informed of before the crash. The independent endocrinologist also said the diagnosis would explain why McFadden was not aware that his blood glucose was plummeting in the moments before the fatal crash, according to the report.
“It cannot be said forcefully enough that not every tragedy is a crime, and this incident is without question a horrible, heartbreaking tragedy,” Bell said in the statement. “The extensive time we spent developing evidence in this case is ultimately best explained by our fierce fight to bring justice for the victims of this tragedy and their families. While we do not believe that the surviving victim or the families of those who lost their lives will believe justice has been served, we accept and respect the grand jury's decision.”
Bell also said in his statement that evidence showed McFadden had previously experienced a similar incident behind the wheel, but it did not result in death or injury.
“We investigated and searched for records to see if there were additional such incidents. However, one prior such crash in August 2021 is the only other incident in evidence,” he said. “At the time of the fatal crash, McFadden was a licensed driver in Missouri, and we have no evidence that any medical professional ever advised him not to operate a motor vehicle for the safety of himself and others.”
Musskopf, 45, of Melbourne, Fla., said she, members of her family and members of the other MoDOT workers’ families met with Bell on Monday, June 27, about the case.
“If Stan McFadden had a medical emergency, I am the first one to be understanding. However, you had a medical emergency in August, you take care of your health,” Musskopf said. “I do not believe Wesley Bell and Jason Denney fought this case. I don’t believe they submitted all of the evidence to the grand jury.”
She said Bell and assistant prosecuting attorney Jason Denney, who presented the case to the grand jury, told her not to mention her daughter’s unborn child to the grand jury.
“They told me by mentioning Jaxx, my grandson, to the grand jury, it weakened their case. It made their case harder,” Musskopf said. “All of us in that room were disgusted with Mr. Bell. How can an unborn child weaken a case?
Musskopf said her family plans to push for a law that would not allow drivers to retain their license if they have an accident caused by a medical emergency until a doctor clears the person to drive.
“I pray (McFadden) never drives again,” she said. “I pray he doesn’t take another life. I pray a pregnant woman does not get killed in Wesley Bell’s district.”
Musskopf and Austin Jarvis, Anderson’s boyfriend and Jaxx’s father, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission – the board that oversees MoDOT – claiming that the agency didn’t take proper steps to protect Anderson and the other employees from traffic.
The suit also names MoDOT supervisor Michael Love and McFadden as defendants.
In the lawsuit, Musskopf and Jarvis said that because of the deaths of Anderson and Jaxx, they “sustained a loss of the value of love, services, consortium, companionship, comfort, instruction, guidance, counsel, training, and support.”
Because of that loss, the lawsuit seeks monetary damages in excess of $25,000 for both deaths “as determined fair and reasonable by a jury against defendants jointly and severally.”
The suit also seeks “all interest allowed under Missouri law at the maximum amount, together with all taxable costs and for such other relief this court deems just and proper” from the defendants.
MoDOT does not comment on litigation matters, communications director Linda Wilson Horn said.
“If MoDOT would have done their job and protected their employees, my babies would still be here,” Musskopf said. “If you look at the big picture, Stan McFadden is not to blame. It is MoDOT for not protecting their employees.”