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Stephen Emory Milton

Age : 56

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 06/16/2021

Location : Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard & 38th Street

City : Savannah

County : Chatham

State : Georgia

Agency : Georgia State Patrol

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed during police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR CHASE: A Georgia State Patrol trooper stopped Kenneth Ray Wright after observing him traveling approximately 60 mph in a 40-mph zone on West Bay Street near Lathrop Avenue. The trooper reported smelling marijuana, and Wright acknowledged recently smoking marijuana. After field sobriety testing, the trooper determined Wright was impaired and attempted to arrest him. Wright ran, the trooper deployed a Taser, and a struggle followed during which police said Wright grabbed the Taser with both hands. The trooper drew his firearm, Wright released the Taser, returned to his vehicle and drove away. GSP's internal review stated that the trooper initiated the pursuit because Wright was believed to be driving while impaired and because of his flight and attempt to take the trooper's Taser.
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NARRATIVE:
On 06/16/2021, at approximately 10 p.m., a Georgia State Patrol trooper stopped Kenneth Ray Wright near West Bay Street and Lathrop Avenue in Savannah after observing him traveling approximately 60 mph in a 40-mph zone. The encounter escalated after the trooper determined Wright was under the influence of marijuana and attempted to arrest him. Wright ran, was subjected to a Taser deployment, struggled with the trooper and grabbed the Taser before releasing it when the trooper drew his firearm. Wright returned to his vehicle and drove away, and the trooper initiated a pursuit.
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The pursuit continued for approximately six miles in six minutes through Savannah, including residential neighborhoods and areas with substantial pedestrian traffic. Witnesses reported seeing Wright's vehicle and two GSP patrol vehicles traveling through residential streets at speeds they estimated at 90 to 100 mph. Prosecutors later presented evidence that Wright drove at more than 100 mph and ran red lights and stop signs during portions of the pursuit.
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Stephen Emory Milton, 56, was returning home on his bicycle because he was scheduled to work the following morning. As Milton crossed Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near 38th Street, Wright's vehicle struck him at high speed. Milton sustained fatal injuries. Dash-camera video subsequently introduced in the criminal case captured the pursuit, collision and crash scene. Wright later claimed that he did not believe his vehicle had struck Milton and suggested the pursuing trooper had struck him, but prosecutors maintained that Wright's vehicle hit Milton. Milton's sister later stated that she believed Wright, rather than the trooper, struck her brother.
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The trooper did not stop after Milton was struck because, according to GSP's internal pursuit review, the pedestrian was not visible to the pursuing trooper. The pursuit continued for approximately another 1½ miles through the Baldwin Park neighborhood. Radio traffic subsequently alerted GSP that a pedestrian had been struck as Savannah police closed Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard around the crash scene.
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The pursuit ultimately ended at 40th Street and Paulsen Street after the pursuing trooper's patrol vehicle overheated and caught fire and had to be towed. Wright escaped. Witness Brendan Pappas later told WTOC that Wright's vehicle and two GSP vehicles passed through his neighborhood at an estimated 90 to 100 mph and nearly struck him and another person.
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GSP conducted an internal pursuit review. The review determined that the trooper complied with GSP pursuit policy. The review specifically considered whether Wright could have been arrested later because police had already positively identified him and answered yes. GSP nevertheless concluded that the pursuit decision was justified because the trooper believed Wright posed a danger by driving while impaired and because Wright had fled and attempted to take the trooper's Taser. GSP policy at the time allowed the individual trooper substantial discretion to initiate and continue a pursuit without obtaining supervisory authorization.
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Milton's family publicly challenged the decision to continue a high-speed pursuit after GSP already possessed Wright's identity, address, insurance information and vehicle information. His family requested the GSP dash-camera and audio recordings and questioned why the pursuit continued through residential neighborhoods and areas with pedestrian traffic.
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DISPOSITION:
The fleeing driver was Kenneth Ray Wright. GSP obtained warrants charging Wright with 18 offenses, including murder, first-degree homicide by vehicle, DUI, felony fleeing, leaving the scene of a crash causing serious injury or death and attempting to remove a weapon from a public official. Wright remained a fugitive until U.S. Marshals arrested him in Albany, Georgia, on 09/03/2021.
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A Chatham County grand jury subsequently indicted Wright for felony murder and other offenses. During his 2023 trial, Wright's defense argued that the GSP trooper had used excessive force during the original arrest attempt and that Wright fled because he feared for his life. Prosecutors argued that Wright had attempted to take the trooper's Taser and fled without justification. Much of the trial centered on the trooper's conduct and whether the pursuit complied with GSP policy.
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On 06/02/2023, a jury convicted Wright on nine counts, including felony murder and homicide by vehicle. Wright was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Georgia State Patrol trooper who stopped Wright, deployed the Taser, struggled with him and initiated the fatal pursuit is not named in the publicly accessible WTOC reports reviewed for this reconstruction. The officer's identity is nevertheless particularly significant in this case because Wright's defense disclosed during the 2023 murder trial that the same trooper had been the subject of a separate Georgia Bureau of Investigation inquiry concerning an allegation of excessive force. The defense sought the GBI investigative report concerning that separate incident for use in Wright's trial. Available public reporting does not identify the trooper or disclose the ultimate finding of that separate GBI investigation.
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The trial record therefore establishes that the pursuit trooper had at least one prior or separate excessive-force allegation serious enough to generate a GBI investigation, but the available reporting does not support attaching a name or a disciplinary outcome to that officer without the underlying GSP or GBI records.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES: 1 fatality

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wtoc.com/2021/08/02/family-pedestrian-killed-during-police-chase-downtown-savannah-question-troopers-actions/
https://www.wtoc.com/2021/06/17/savannah-police-scene-crash-involving-pedestrian-mlk-blvd-closed-both-directions/
https://www.wtoc.com/2021/08/26/going-easily-100-miles-an-hour-90-miles-an-hour-neighbor-calls-911-outraged-over-police-chase/
https://www.wtoc.com/2021/09/03/suspect-arrested-after-pedestrian-killed-hit-and-run-martin-luther-king-jr-blvd/
https://www.wtoc.com/2021/09/09/suspect-denied-bond-hitting-killing-pedestrian-during-high-speed-chase/
https://www.wtoc.com/2021/09/30/driver-indicted-murder-charge-after-hitting-killing-pedestrian-during-high-speed-chase/
https://www.wtoc.com/2023/01/05/crime-scene-photo-evidence-debated-during-deadly-2021-hit-and-run-hearing/
https://www.wtoc.com/2023/06/01/opening-statements-begin-2021-hit-and-run-murder-trial/
https://www.wtoc.com/2023/06/02/man-that-hit-pedestrian-during-high-speed-chase-found-guilty-murder/
https://www.wtoc.com/2023/06/05/family-man-hit-killed-during-high-speed-chase-says-guilty-verdict-is-helping-them-heal/