KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Oak Grove man has been charged in connection to a hayride accident in rural eastern Jackson County last October that injured nearly a dozen members of one family.
Kaylon J. Childers, 27, was charged on Wednesday with four counts of second-degree assault, driving while intoxicated and misdemeanor driving on a revoked license in connection to the October 8 wreck.
He is currently in custody in the Jackson County Jail, being without bond.
“For every day that this man was walking free, somebody’s life was in danger. I truly believe that,” said Faye Strahle, whose daughter Julie Hall and son-in-law Dustin Hall were seriously injured in the crash.
According to prosecutors, a hay wagon with 14 passengers – mostly from the Hall family of Oak Grove – was being pulled by a tractor along H Highway just north of Pink Hill Road when a pickup being driven by Childers struck the left rear wheel of the wagon as it tried to pass it, ejecting 12 people from the wagon, injuring 11 – including two people with critical injuries.
Prosecutors say that Childers has previous DWI convictions.
“My only wish out of all this is that he’s put somewhere where he can’t hurt anybody else. Having watched the injuries and the long road to recovery,” said Strahle.
