Media

Deputies Charge Driver of Motorcycle In Deadly Weekend Accident

Release Date: July 13, 2004

Shelby County Sheriff’s Traffic Deputies have charged the driver of a motorcycle that crashed this weekend on Bill Morris Parkway. The crash killed the passenger on the bike.

Avrick Mitchell, 37, of Memphis, has been charged with:

• Vehicular Homicide
• Speeding
• Driving Without a License
• Unlawful Possession of a Handgun (9 mm pistol)

Deputies say early Saturday morning a Collierville Police Officer clocked Mitchell’s motorcycle at 99 miles per hour as it traveled west on Bill Morris Parkway. The motorcycle was going so fast it was beyond the Collierville city limits before the officer could pursue it.

Moments later, witnesses said the motorcycle, still traveling at a very high rate of speed, sped between two cars near the exit at Forest Hill Irene Road in east Shelby County.

The bike veered across the median and crashed into a guardrail on the east bound lane. Lemmie Franklin, 55, of Moscow, Tennessee, was dead at the scene.

Avrick Mitchell is being held at the Shelby County Jail on $300,000 bond. Deputies say a sample of Mitchell’s blood was taken and will be tested for alcohol and other drugs. The outcome of those tests won’t be known for a few weeks.

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