A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted a Cleveland man accused of causing a fatal crash during a high-speed pursuit with sheriff’s deputies.
Prosecutors said 24-year-old Jaymone L. Whitaker II is charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, failure to comply with a police signal, child endangering, and operating a vehicle while impaired.
The case stems from an incident on Aug. 10, when deputies attempted to stop a car they said was traveling recklessly without headlights near St. Clair Avenue and East 13th Street around 1:16 a.m. Investigators believe Whitaker was under the influence at the time. Deputies, with supervisory approval, pursued the vehicle after the driver refused to stop.
Moments later, the suspect’s car collided with another vehicle stopped at a red light at St. Clair Avenue and Addison Road. The driver of that vehicle, 37-year-old Sharday Elder, was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injuries. A 33-year-old passenger in her car was also hospitalized in serious condition.
Whitaker was not badly hurt, but two passengers in his vehicle—a 16-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman—were seriously injured and taken to the hospital, officials said. He was later arrested at the hospital and booked into the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center.
The sheriff’s office confirmed that two deputies involved in the chase were placed on paid administrative leave, a standard step in such cases. Whitaker is scheduled to be arraigned at a later date.
Would you like me to expand this into a longer investigative-style piece, adding background on police pursuit policies in Cleveland and past incidents where chases led to fatalities? That could help frame this case in a broader public safety context.