A Nashville woman who was just moments from home was killed Friday (March 20) when a parolee with at least 20 prior criminal convictions allegedly drove a stolen pickup truck into her car at high speed, police say.
Ray Eugene Padgett, 52, faces multiple felony charges, including criminally negligent homicide and vehicular homicide by recklessness, in connection with the death of Oluwalayomi Fadero, 23, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD). Fadero was pronounced dead at the scene.
Padgett was also charged with felony reckless endangerment, attempted criminal homicide, and driving on a revoked license. He is being held at the Downtown Detention Center on an $805,000 bond.
Police say Padgett, who was out on parole at the time, stole a Ford F-250 pickup truck from a Nashville car lot. The lot’s owner tracked the truck to an alley off St. Louis Street in north Nashville, where Padgett allegedly reversed the truck and rammed the owner’s vehicle before fleeing. Police say additional charges connected to that incident are anticipated.
As Padgett continued driving the stolen truck, authorities tracked him by helicopter. A plainclothes detective in an unmarked police SUV spotted the stolen truck at the connector road between Murfreesboro Pike and Old Murfreesboro Pike, and Padgett rammed that vehicle too, giving rise to the attempted criminal homicide charge. The detective was not seriously hurt.
MNPD Public Information Officer Don Aaron told WSMV that at that point, the plan was to track the truck from the air until it stopped. “The intention at that point is to keep an eye on the truck until it finally stops, have ground units move in, and take the man into custody,” Aaron said.
Instead, a roughly five-minute chase unfolded on Murfreesboro Pike, with speeds reportedly reaching up to 80 mph. The chase ended around 2:30 p.m. when Padgett crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed into Fadero’s white Hyundai Elantra on the driver’s side as she attempted to turn off Murfreesboro Pike onto Hickory Woods Drive, the street where she lived. The force of the collision sent both vehicles careening about 100 yards into a ditch.
Padgett sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the crash and was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for treatment. He was discharged the next day. He was immediately taken into custody. MNPD confirmed he had “at least 20 criminal convictions in five Tennessee counties” before the crash.
No trial date has been set. Police say additional charges tied to the ramming of the car lot owner’s vehicle are also expected.
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