Inset: Raynesha Scyrus (GoFundMe). Background: The area where Raynesha Scyrus was allegedly struck and killed in Oklahoma City (KFOR/YouTube).
An Oklahoma teenager charged with manslaughter allegedly told police he thought he plowed into a deer while driving down a dark road, but it was actually a 22-year-old woman — and her body somehow ended up in his truck bed.
“That’s pretty unusual,” said Master Sergeant Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department in a Crime Stoppers video broadcast by the local NBC affiliate KFOR. “To have a body end up in the bed of a truck. … That’s certainly not something we see every day.”
Raynesha Scyrus, the victim, was riding an electric scooter home from work when the 17-year-old driver allegedly mowed her down near Rockwell Avenue and Melrose Lane in Oklahoma City. The teen called his mom and drove to her workplace after striking Scyrus, police say.
“They’re looking at the damage to the truck and discover that there is a body in the bed of the truck,” Knight explained. “[The teen] thought he had hit a deer. He was apparently driving down the road, possibly shooting video with his phone while he was doing so.”
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Police say the crash happened Thursday, Sept. 10, around 8 p.m., but officers were not called until approximately 10:15 p.m., KFOR reports.
The teen was allegedly intoxicated and speeding when he struck Scyrus. Police say he admitted to using his phone while driving.
Police pronounced Scyrus dead after being called to the teen’s mother’s workplace.
“I just got so many questions,” said Scyrus’ mother, Tameka Scyrus, in an interview with local CBS affiliate KWTV. “I never seen a deer around here,” she told the station. “And where did that two hours go?”
The teen who allegedly killed Raynesha Scyrus is charged with manslaughter, DUI and leaving the scene of a fatal crash. His court records are sealed due to his age.
A judge set the teen’s bond at $100,000 and ordered that he not drive if released, according to KWTV.
Tameka Scyrus told the station that her daughter typically rode her scooter on the sidewalk, but the sidewalk ends eventually.
“Everybody don’t have cars,” she said. “I wish she would have said, ‘Momma, just come get me.’ I would have came.”
A GoFundMe launched for the Scyrus family claims the 17-year-old driver knowingly drove around with Raynesha Scyrus in the back of his vehicle.
“Raynesha was hit by a drunk driver, and in the heartbreaking hours that followed, the driver put Raynesha in his truck and drove around for two hours before calling the police,” the GoFundMe alleges. “By the time police reached them, Raynesha was pronounced dead.”
The teenage driver is facing charges in juvenile court because of his age, though his formal charging status is under review. Tameka Scyrus told KWTV that she wants him charged as an adult.
“I didn’t find out until she was already gone, like a day later,” said Tameka Scyrus. “I can’t see her body. I can’t do this, I can’t do this.”
The post ‘Pretty unusual’: Dead woman discovered in teen’s truck bed, boy claims he thought he hit a deer but victim’s mom isn’t buying it — wants him charged as adult, reports say first appeared on Law & Crime.
