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Hinesville trucker charged for Illinois death
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HILLSBORO, Ill. — A Georgia truck driver has been indicted for reckless homicide by a Montgomery County, Ill., grand jury in the November death of Illinois State Police Trooper Kyle Deatherage of Highland on Interstate 55 near Raymond, Ill.
Johnny B. Felton Jr., 52, of Hinesville, was indicted by a grand jury convened by Montgomery County State Attorney Chris Matoush on Monday and arrested Tuesday morning in Georgia.
Felton reportedly was the driver of a semi that struck and killed Deatherage on Interstate 55 on Nov. 26, while the trooper was on the side of the road during a traffic stop. Deatherage, who lived in Highland with his wife and two children, was 32 years old and worked out of District 18 in Litchfield, Ill.
The grand jury returned a two-count bill of indictment for reckless homicide and operating a commercial vehicle without a valid license.
Both are felonies. The reckless homicide charge is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and the second charge is punishable by up to three years in prison.
The indictment alleges Felton operated his semi in violation of the restriction upon his Georgia commercial driver’s license in a reckless manner and at a speed greater than what was “reasonable and proper with regard to the existing traffic conditions and the safety of persons properly upon the roadway.”
The second charge alleges that Felton’s commercial driver’s license permitted intrastate commerce only; it did not authorize interstate driving privileges.
Bond was set at $250,000 on the two charges.

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