Roane County, TN (WOKI) A Texas man is facing charges in connection to a woman’s death after she was found along I-40 in Roane County last year.
According to court documents, motorists found a woman, later identified as Lateshia Patillo, in October 2024 unresponsive near the eastbound shoulder of I-40 in Roane County at mile marker 341. She was taken to UT Medical Center, where she died from her injuries.
Forty-six year old Stevie Williams, of Rockwall, Texas has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and reckless homicide following an investigation which discovered, in part, that Patillo got a ride with Williams in Arkansas and that he was traveling on I-40 around the time that Patillo was found by other drivers.
Court records indicate that when investigators with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spoke with Williams, he said Patillo was in his semi-truck and “jumped from the passenger seat” while Williams was driving around 68 miles per hour. Williams then briefly stopped but didn’t see Patillo, so he continued on his route to New Jersey without notifying law enforcement or helping her.
An autopsy later revealed that Patillo died as a result of several blunt force injuries.
Williams’ case was bound over to a grand jury on March 14.
