A Texas man has been indicted by a Roane County Grand Jury in connection with the death of Lateshia Patillo, whose body was found with serious injuries along Interstate 40 last October. Stevie Bernard Williams of Rockwall, Texas, faces a single charge of leaving the scene of an accident knowing death resulted, as reported by WVLT. Williams was not indicted on five other charges, which included first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, and criminally negligent homicide.
On the day in question, motorists discovered Patillo’s unresponsive body near the eastbound shoulder of I-40 in Roane County at mile marker 341. She was rushed to the University of Tennessee Medical Center but succumbed to her injuries. An autopsy would later confirm that the cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries. Williams reportedly told investigators that Patillo had “jumped from the passenger seat” of his semi-truck while he was driving, as mentioned in an affidavit of complaint obtained by WIVK. Despite this incident, he did not notify law enforcement or seek help, instead continuing his route to New Jersey.
Patillo, a 40-year-old mother with a business degree working in the trucking industry, was initially unidentified until the Tennessee Highway Patrol released a sketch and details about her. Jacksonville, Arkansas Police Department had reported her as missing in November 2024 before updating that she was no longer missing in early December. The tragic narrative was further humanized when Sandra Patillo, Lateshia’s mother, told 6 News, “I spoke with her before she became missing, me and her father. She would have never wanted to die. She would have never jumped from a truck.”…