PAGEDALE, Mo. (AP) - A man accused of leaving the scene of an accident that killed one boy and seriously injured his brother as they walked to a convenience store has a history of impaired driving, court records showed.
Ricky Weeden, 54, of St. Louis, was convicted of driving while intoxicated at least five times before he was charged Monday with leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Investigators say Trayeshon Williams, 4, died Friday after a pickup truck hit him and his 10-year-old brother as they were crossing a Pagedale street to go to a convenience store. His older brother has been hospitalized.
Weeden, who has been jailed on $50,000 bail, couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. Online court records don't show whether he has an attorney, and he does not have a listed home telephone number.
The Missouri Highway Patrol still is investigating the crash, with the case expected to be presented to a St. Louis County grand jury for the consideration of additional charges.
After the highway patrol stopped him in 1996, Weeden was charged with felony DWI as a "persistent offender," meaning he either had two previous DWI convictions or had been involved in an alcohol-related crash that injured or killed someone, the Post-Dispatch reported. Weeden was sentenced to serve 90 days in jail.
The next year, the newspaper found, Weeden was sentenced to 11 months in jail after being charged with misdemeanor DWI in connection with a traffic stop by St. Louis airport police.
In June 2003, he again was charged with felony DWI for being a persistent offender after St. Louis County police pulled him over. Weeden later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years of probation and 120 days of "shock time," as well as substance-abuse treatment.
Weeden's probation was revoked in 2007, and he was sentenced to serve four years in prison, though he apparently didn't serve all of that time. In April 2010, he was charged with misdemeanor DWI after being stopped by Wellston police. He pleaded guilty in August 2011 and was ordered to spend 90 days in jail, with credit for time he already had served in that case.
In neighboring Illinois, Weeden was charged in 1995 in St. Clair County with driving on a suspended or revoked license, carrying an alcoholic beverage as a driver and improper passing. He pleaded guilty.
He also has numerous charges related to driving without a valid Missouri license.