Cape woman at odds with police, views son's death as no accident

Barbara Kellum does not believe her son�s death was an accident.

The Cape Girardeau woman said her son, Mychal Douglas �Silky� Byrd, told her and police before he died he was intentionally run off Interstate 55.

But police said there is no evidence Byrd�s vehicle was run off the road.

Byrd suffered extensive injuries after the SUV he was driving northbound on Interstate 55 on July 29 left the roadway, became airborne and crashed into Ramsey Creek near the 94 mile marker.

Byrd, 40, of Cape Girardeau suffered numerous broken bones and internal bleeding. He was taken by ambulance to Saint Francis Medical Center and later airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

Mychal Byrd

He died Sept. 7 in the St. Louis hospital from complications resulting from his injuries.

Kellum said her son developed a lung infection from the creek water, which ultimately led to his death.

More than three months after her son�s death, Kellum remains frustrated police still view her son�s death as an accident.

Kellum views her son�s death as an unsolved murder.

She said her insurance agent viewed the matter as a �wrongful death� case.

Police, she said, �are not even trying� to solve the case.

Police Lt. Brad Smith said he understands her frustration and feels for her loss. But he said there is no evidence Byrd�s vehicle was struck by another car or otherwise forced off the road.

�It happens all the time in our line of work,� Smith said of not finding evidence.

Kellum, however, said Byrd�s vehicle did not have to be bumped to be forced off the road.

Police responded to the scene at 11:37 a.m. July 29, hours after the vehicle landed in the creek, according to a police report.

Cpl. Jacob Scheper found Byrd floating on his back in the muddy creek and a passenger, Tracey Browning, 45, of Charleston, Missouri, in the vehicle, unable to move.

Patrolman Brian McCain filed an accident report listing �driver fatigue/asleep� as a �probable contributing circumstance.�

Byrd told police the incident occurred between 3 and 4 a.m.

He told Scheper and his mother he attempted to climb out of the creek to seek help, but was unable to do so because of his severe injuries. Scheper said Byrd was found floating in two feet of water.

Kellum said her son told her he kept passing out. When a police officer arrived at the scene, he initially thought Byrd was dead, Kellum said.

She said Byrd told her from his Saint Francis hospital bed that two men had chased him from Charleston because he gave a ride to Browning. Byrd said the men wanted to get hold of Browning because he had �beat up some girl.�

Browning told police a far different story.

Browning, who was hospitalized at Saint Francis, said �no one was mad at them and he didn�t notice anyone following him because he was falling asleep,� Scheper wrote in his report.

Scheper said Browning said a tire �may have popped.�

But Kellum, who saw the vehicle after it was towed to Sperling�s Garage and Wrecker Service, said none of the tires had blown.

She said Browning�s statements to police are not believable.

Scheper said in his report Browning was on pain medication given him by emergency room staff and was �going in and out of consciousness� when he spoke to him.

In the report, updated Oct. 2, Scheper said he was �unable to determine the cause of the accident at this time.�

According to Scheper�s report, the vehicle driven by Byrd crashed into the creek bank and then fell back into the creek, landing on all four tires.

Scheper said �there did not appear to be any attempt to brake/slow the vehicle down� before it became airborne.

Kellum said an assistant coroner told her there was no sign of drugs or alcohol in her son�s body.

Byrd, who grew up in Jamaica, New York, previously served more than six years in a federal prison on a drug conviction.

But Kellum said Byrd had turned his life around. Kellum said Byrd lived with her and had been working for nearly two years at Gilster Mary-Lee in Perryville, Missouri, at the time of the vehicular incident.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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