GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A tow truck driver was found not guilty after being charged with the death of a woman who died in a motorcycle crash in 2019.
According to Highway Patrol, Patricia Willard, 70, was killed and her husband Jerry was critically injured on April 27, 2019 when their motorcycle hit a parked tow truck on Sumner Church Road in Guilford County. The Greensboro News & Record notes that Jerry Willard spent months in the hospital after this crash.
Jessica Tara Middlebrook, the driver of the tow truck, was charged with improper parking and involuntary manslaughter. She was not in the truck at the time of the crash.
On Thursday, a jury found Middlebrook not guilty.
According to the News and Record, Middlebrook’s defense said that the truck had been left parked in front of a home on a dead-end street after Middlebrook “rushed in to tend to a sick child,” and that Willard should have seen the parked truck sooner, saying that speeding was to blame for the crash.
Middlebrook has a significant following across social media, posting clips on TikTok and amassing millions of followers. The News & Record reports that the family of the Willards say that Middlebrook has not apologized to the family.