HOWELL COUNTY, Mo. — A truck driver involved in a three-vehicle crash in West Plains that killed a woman and two children in 2022 has been charged with reckless operation of a tractor-trailer on Wednesday, June 5.
The truck driver, Clayton Rainwater of Newark, Arkansas, is charged with three counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and one count of second-degree assault stemming from the crash on May 25, 2022.
Court documents state that Rainwater’s Peterbilt truck, which was carrying a 50-foot trailer full of cattle, crashed into a Nissan Rogue and a Pontiac at the intersection of US Highway 63 and State Route 17. The Pontiac was trapped under the trailer, requiring a crane to lift the trailer off of the SUV.
The driver of the Pontiac, 22-year-old Alexis Crider, and two back-seat passengers, two-year-old Aidan McDaniel and one-year-old Brantley McDaniel, were pronounced dead shortly after they were taken out of the vehicle. Another passenger, Remington Crider, was taken to a Springfield Hospital with serious injuries.
The two occupants in the Nissan were treated at the scene and taken to Ozarks Healthcare with moderate injuries. Rainwater and the passenger in the trailer, Eva Durham, were not injured in the crash.
After the crash, several witnesses reported that the trailer did not come to a stop when the light turned red at the intersection. In a post-crash interview, Rainwater said he used his brakes when the light turned yellow but pressed harder on his brakes when the light turned red, making the trailer slide into oncoming traffic and hitting the Nissan that was making a left turn. Rainwater said the rain and the load of cows in his trailer make stopping quickly difficult.
After hitting the Nissan, the trailer struck the Pontiac head-on after trying to serve around it, making the SUV get stuck on the side of the trailer and causing the truck to overturn onto the Pontiac.
Howell County detectives quickly launched an investigation of the crash. A vehicle inspection conducted by the Howell County detectives and Missouri State Highway Patrol revealed that Rainwater’s tractor-trailer was being driven despite having out-of-service violations at the time of the crash.
No court dates have been scheduled for Rainwater at this time.
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