Rutherford County, TN — A Tennessee mother has been turning grief into action and now the man convicted of killing her son in a hit-and-run crash will soon walk free. Kimberly Webb, whose 19-year-old son, James “Jimmy” Bardsley Jr., was struck and killed while riding his motorcycle home from work in September 2021, is now leading a statewide campaign to change how Tennessee handles fatal hit-and-run cases.
The driver, Ruben Buenrostro Contreras, now 71, fled the scene after the crash at Rocky Fork Almaville Road and Morton Lane. Jimmy died in the roadway, surrounded by strangers. It took 29 hours for Smyrna Police to locate the suspect and the red truck involved.
Contreras, who is currently on parole in Murfreesboro, was later convicted in a Rutherford County courtroom on December 7, 2023, for leaving the scene of an accident involving a death, tampering with evidence, and failure to yield resulting in death. His sentence included:
- 2 years in the Department of Corrections
- 5 years for tampering with evidence
- 11 months and 29 days in jail for failure to yield
Despite these convictions, Contreras is scheduled to continue his sentence under court-supervised parole. That parole is listed as active supervision, requiring him to check-in when required at the Murfreesboro Probation and Parole Office. His sentence will be completed by September 24, 2026—which is in just 15 months and 3 weeks from now.
For Webb, this is not justice. She believes Jimmy’s memory deserves more than loopholes. She reports that Tennessee’s current laws do not mandate enhanced penalties for hit-and-run crashes that result in death…