Cleveland, Ohio: Tyrelle Taylor Indicted on a Murder Charge in the Hit-and-Run Death of Bicyclist Frank Mays

A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted Tyrelle Taylor, 26, on a charge of murder in the October 18 hit-and-run death of Cleveland bicyclist William Frank Mays, the county prosecutor's office announced on Friday, October 30. Prosecutors say Taylor drove a black 2010 Ford F-150 Raptor through downtown Cleveland and into Ohio City that Sunday afternoon, struck seven vehicles, and hit Mays in a clearly marked bicycle lane near West 25th Street, dragging him about 0.4 miles while he was lodged in the truck's wheel well.

What prosecutors say happened

According to the prosecutor's office, Taylor was driving on West 6th Street toward West St. Clair Avenue at about 4:50 p.m., shortly after that day's Browns game ended. Cleveland police officers on foot on West 6th Street tried to stop the truck. WKYC reported from the prosecutor's news conference that Taylor drove left of center over the double yellow lines, ran a red light, and turned onto West 9th Street into oncoming traffic.

At West 9th Street and Superior Avenue, the truck struck four vehicles, and its front passenger wheel broke off. Taylor kept driving on three wheels and crossed the Detroit Superior Bridge toward Ohio City. Along the way, prosecutors say, the truck also struck a bicycle lane flex post on Superior Avenue. Near West 25th Street, prosecutors say, he veered into the green, clearly marked bicycle lane on the right shoulder, sideswiped a sixth vehicle, and struck Mays, who was riding his bicycle in the lane. He struck a seventh vehicle as he kept fleeing with Mays lodged under the front end of the truck, then turned left onto West 28th Street and crashed into the center of the roundabout at West 28th Street and Franklin Boulevard.

"The horror did not end there, because poor Frank was lodged under the front end, and in the wheel well of Taylor's truck," Prosecutor Michael O'Malley said, according to WKYC.

Police found Mays in the grass several feet behind the truck. Cleveland EMS took him to a hospital, where he died about 90 minutes after he was struck, WKYC reported. Taylor ran from the truck on foot. Prosecutors say he later went to a nearby mission, told people there that he was homeless and needed clothes, changed his clothes, and walked away.

Surrender and indictment

On October 21, three days after the crash, Taylor turned himself in and was arrested by the U.S. Marshals and the Cleveland Division of Police. On October 30, a grand jury indicted him on 33 counts: 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. He will be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center on a date that has not yet been set.

O'Malley called the case one of the most disturbing crimes he has seen in his 10 years as county prosecutor, according to WKYC. An indictment is a charge, not a conviction, and Taylor is presumed innocent unless a court finds otherwise.