Piedmont man will not stand trial in leaving-the-scene fatality

GREENVILLE, Mo. -- A Piedmont, Missouri, man will not stand trial on a charge he left the scene of a June accident that left one of his passengers dead.

Dakota Lee Carter, 24, appeared late last week before Associate Circuit Judge Edith Rutter for a preliminary hearing.

At the hearing's conclusion, Rutter did not find sufficient evidence to bind Carter over to stand trial on the charge, according to a deputy Wayne County circuit clerk. The case against Carter is now a closed record.

Carter had been charged in connection with the June 15 death of Jacob C. Waller, 19, of Piedmont.

According to earlier reports, Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper John West was contacted about 5:10 a.m. June 15 about a body in the road on Highway 34, south of Route V.

An autopsy determined Waller, who is believed to have fallen from the bed of Carter's northbound 2002 Chevrolet pickup, died as a result of traumatic head injury.

During the investigation, West reportedly learned Waller had been riding in the unenclosed bed of a pickup, which had left a party off Route KK at about 4:30 a.m.

A witness in the truck reported the vehicle's tailgate was up, and "[Waller] appeared to be sleeping, so they all figured he wouldn't be able to fall out," West said in his probable-cause statement. "[She] stated as they were entering Piedmont, they noticed Waller was not in the bed of the truck anymore."

The witness further reported they didn't "think anything about it," West said.

Another witness, West said, reported Waller was in the truck when they left and "must have fell out on the way back to Piedmont."