CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted Tyrelle Taylor on one count of murder and a string of other charges in the Oct. 18 fatal hit-and-run that killed bicyclist William “Frank” Mays in Cleveland, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office announced Oct. 30.
The prosecutor’s office said Taylor, driving a black 2010 Ford F-150 Raptor on West 6th Street in downtown Cleveland at about 4:50 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 18, was revving his engine and driving through crosswalks with pedestrians nearby when Cleveland Division of Police officers on foot attempted to stop him. Taylor pulled away, striking another vehicle’s bumper, and fled, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Prosecutors said Taylor ran a red light, drove into oncoming traffic on West 9th Street, and struck four vehicles stopped at Superior Avenue, breaking off his front passenger wheel. He continued on three wheels over the Detroit-Superior Bridge toward Ohio City, the prosecutor’s office said.
Near West 25th Street, Taylor veered into the marked bicycle lane, sideswiped a sixth vehicle and struck Mays, 35, who was riding in the bike lane, according to the prosecutor’s office. Investigators determined Mays became lodged in the truck’s wheel well and was dragged approximately 0.4 miles — 2,112 feet — before Taylor crashed into the roundabout at West 28th Street and Franklin Boulevard and fled on foot, prosecutors said.
Cleveland EMS transported Mays to a hospital, where he was pronounced deceased, according to the prosecutor’s office. Surveillance footage and witness testimony linked Taylor to the crimes, prosecutors said, and Taylor turned himself in on Oct. 21 and was arrested by the U.S. Marshals and Cleveland police.
The Oct. 30 indictment charges Taylor with one count of murder, one count of involuntary manslaughter, 19 counts of felonious assault, one count of tampering with evidence, two counts of failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, and nine counts of failure to stop after an accident, the prosecutor’s office said.
Taylor will be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center at a later date, according to the prosecutor’s office. An indictment is an accusation, and the charges will be tested in court as the case proceeds.