MO Officer Charged with Manslaughter Over Death of Fellow Officer in 2020 Chase

A former suburban St. Louis officer was charged over hitting and killing another officer while chasing a suspect in 2020, the St. Louis County prosecutor's office announced Wednesday.

Officer Brian Rayford was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Dec. 5, 2020, death of 54-year-old Moline Acres Police Sgt. Herschel Turner Jr., the Bellingham Herald reports.

The prosecutor said Rayford, then a Bellefontaine Neighbors police officer, hit Turner while pursuing a vehicle that had been reported stolen. He was driving 80 to 85 mph in a 30 mph zone, without his emergency lights or sirens, before he hit Turner, who was standing outside his vehicle while helping with an earlier traffic stop, the prosecutors said.Rayford was fired over the incident. He is now a Hillsdale office.