COLUMBIA — The trial for a Boonville man charged with manslaughter in a deadly 2024 crash on Business Loop 70 in Columbia began Wednesday.
Matthew Shilling, 43, faces five charges in Boone County in connection to the crash, including involuntary manslaughter, two counts of armed criminal action, assault and driving with a revoked or suspended license.
According to police, the crash happened Feb. 2, 2024, when an SUV slowed to turn off Business Loop onto Hathman Place. A motorcycle behind the SUV slowed as well, but police said a truck behind the other vehicles did not slow down, hitting the motorcycle and pushing it into the SUV.
Christina Mayfield, 32, was a passenger on the motorcycle and died in the crash.
Mayfield's widow, Matthew Mayfield, testified in court on Wednesday. He said he was riding his motorcycle on Business Loop with Christina behind him as his passenger when everything went black. Mayfield said the next thing he remembered was waking up on the ground, then waking up in the hospital hours later.
The 911 dispatcher from the day of the crash also testified. Shilling called 911 after the crash. The prosecution played a recording of the call for the jury, where Shilling can be heard saying he was driving, blinked, and hit a motorcycle. He said multiple times on the call he did not mean to do it. At one point during the call, Shilling said he saw a woman on the ground and he thought she was dead.
The driver of a car in front of the Mayfields testified, too. She said she was making a turn when she felt a bump on the back of her car, which was from Shilling hitting the motorcycle into her car. She said she then got out of her car and saw two people on the ground, and called 911.
Court documents filed in February 2024 said there was no evidence at the scene to indicate Shilling tried to slow down or take evasive action. The probable cause statement said surveillance video from a nearby business showed Shilling traveling at a high rate of speed.
According to the statement, Shilling's license had been suspended at the time of the crash. The probable cause statement further said Shilling has nine prior convictions on his driving record of driving while suspended or revoked, and one conviction for driving without a license.
Jury selection spanned over four hours, going from 8:15 a.m. until about 12:45 p.m.