Pregnant mom, 2-year-old son killed by driver randomly targeting pedestrians in 'intentional act': Police
A pregnant mom and her 2-year-old son were killed when a driver randomly targeted pedestrians and plowed into them in an "intentional act," according to police in Tennessee.
William David Phillips, 33, was driving in Jefferson City on Monday afternoon when he "swerved and intentionally struck a pedestrian," according to the Jefferson City Police Department.
Phillips kept driving, and less than 1 mile away from the first crash, he swerved again, intentionally hitting two more people, according to police.
The "intentional act of violence" left Sierra Wilson Cahoon, a 30-year-old pregnant woman from Jefferson City, and her son, 2-year-old Nolan Cahoon, dead at the scene, said police.
Phillips said he was driving when a "voice told him that he needed to go kill the meth addicts so he began driving very fast," according to court documents.
"He said the voice told him that [Sierra Cahoon's] baby stroller had meth in it" so he intentionally drove into her and her son in the stroller, the documents said.
Two other people also suffered minor injuries, according to police.
Phillips didn't know the victims, according to police.
Phillips, of Jefferson City, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder, police said in a news release on Wednesday.
Sierra and Nolan Cahoon are survived by Sierra Cahoon's husband, Matt Cahoon, an assistant athletic trainer at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, according to the university.
"The Carson-Newman family mourns today over this tragic loss," interim President Paul Percy said in a statement on Tuesday. "We ask for prayers for Matt and his family now and in the days ahead."
Phillips is due to make his first court appearance on Thursday. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
