May 23—MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — A truck driver from Georgia was ordered bound over for trial Thursday on a manslaughter charge in connection with a 10-vehicle accident May 12 on Interstate 44 that claimed the life of a Neosho man.
Associate Court Judge Matthew Kasper ruled at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing in Lawrence County Circuit Court that there is probable cause for Patrick T. Joiner, 53, to stand trial on a count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter in the death of Rodger Alexander.
A probable-cause affidavit filed in the case states that Joiner, of Jefferson, Georgia, was driving a westbound semitruck that plowed into the rear of Alexander’s car, which was at the back of a line of vehicles slowed to a stop because of a construction zone.
The collision forced Alexander’s car off the roadway into a guardrail, directing it back onto the roadway and into another vehicle. The truck struck several other vehicles after colliding with Alexander’s car, according to the affidavit written by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper.
Alexander was trapped in the wreckage and had to be extricated and flown by medical helicopter to Mercy Hospital Springfield, where he died from his injuries.
The affidavit states that Joiner, who was uninjured, told the trooper that he looked down to grab a bottle of water and did not see the line of traffic stopped ahead of him until it was too late.
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