KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - For the first time since 1989, a motorist in Tennessee has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with a traffic death.
Ralpheal Cameron Coffey, 26, of Oak Ridge is accused of killing two people while driving a vehicle carrying drugs and fleeing law enforcement in May 2016, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.
A Knox County grand jury has charged Coffey with second-degree murder. The law defines second-degree murder as a "knowing" killing, meaning the suspect knew his or her actions could kill. The charge hasn't been used to prosecute a motorist whose driving resulted in death since the Tennessee legislature revamped the criminal code in 1989.
Prosecutors argue Coffey knew the odds were high he could kill someone by driving recklessly at high speeds on busy roads in the middle of the afternoon, as he's alleged to have done.
However, defense attorneys say motorists whose driving causes a death isn't a killer in the traditional sense, so vehicular homicide is the only appropriate charge.
On the afternoon of May 25, 2016, Coffey is alleged to have been fleeing from Anderson County Sheriff's Office deputies in his 2007 Chevrolet Impala. Authorities later found marijuana, crack cocaine, powder cocaine and cash in the car.
Coffey's Impala entered a Knox County intersection and crashed into 27-year-old Kevin Bradley's truck, according to court records. Bradley was killed. His passenger, 26-year-old Eric Kennedy, was badly injured.
Coffey's passenger, 44-year-old Tommie Troupe, later died of injuries he suffered in the crash.
No attorney was listed for Coffey in court records.