Greene County Jail Holds North Carolina Truck Driver for 2023 Hit-and-Run Fatality

Seven months after a man sitting on a curb near Walmart on North Kansas Expressway was hit and killed by a tractor-trailer, the driver of the fleeing vehicle is in jail.

Melvin L. Battle, 56, was arrested on Monday for second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the death of 51-year-old Todd Tennison, a homeless man who was panhandling when he was hit by a 52-foot box trailer.

Tennison’s murder spurred the Springfield Police Department to enforce a city rule that barred “certain conduct between pedestrians and drivers on roadways with high volumes of traffic or high-speed limits.”

Battle, a truck driver from North Carolina, was formally charged in March. In addition, he is charged with fleeing the scene of a fatal collision. According to court documents, his bond was set at $15,000.

According to a police report, a witness attempted to flag down Battle shortly after the September 29 incident and photographed his license plate, which assisted authorities in identifying a suspect. Police also received a tip that “Melvin” was the driver of the truck and trailer that had previously stopped in Indiana.

During his police interviews, Battle reportedly denied involvement.

“During both conversations, Battle was uncooperative and denied he was involved in a crash in Springfield, MO, and further denied anyone had flagged him down to tell him he had been involved in a crash,” a police report read.

According to court records, Tennison’s family sued Battle and his company, USA Transport Group, in December for wrongful death.