By Patti Weaver

 

  (Stillwater, Okla.) — A first-degree manslaughter case against a Stillwater man whose pickup reportedly crashed into a disabled vehicle partially in the road that fatally struck Cindy Stemple, 58, of Stillwater, who had stopped to render aid, has been dropped by the prosecution, court records show.
    The case against Jeffery Steven Bryant, now 69, that alleged he was under the influence of drugs at the time of the fatal crash in 2022, was dismissed this month due to insufficient evidence, according to a court document filed by Payne County First Assistant District Attorney J.R. Kalka.
    “Information revealed through witness testimony at the preliminary hearing and subsequent investigation has failed to sufficiently corroborate the allegation that this defendant was under the influence of an intoxicating substance at the time the collision occurred,” Kalka wrote in a motion to dismiss.
    After the collision at 6:32 pm on Feb. 16, 2022, on Fairgrounds Road, about one-half mile north of McElroy Road near Stillwater, Bryant’s blood test showed the presence of the substances Hydroxy-THC, THCA, THC, Doxylamine and Trazodone, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. Matthew Ledbetter alleged in an affidavit filed on July 1, 2022.
    The OHP trooper wrote in an affidavit that another driver, Jose Armando Rodriguez-Melendez, then 21, was traveling south on Fairgrounds Road in a 2010 Chevrolet Silverado pickup when he passed numerous vehicles including a Ford Excursion SUV driven by Cindy Stemple, with her daughter, Katie as a passenger.
    “Moments after passing the Stemples, Rodriguez drove off the west side of Fairgrounds, overcorrected, traveled off the east side of Fairgrounds, and struck the embanked roadside,” where his vehicle came to rest facing northeast nearly perpendicular to Fairgrounds Road, the affidavit alleged.
    Stopping to help, Stemple parked her Excursion on the west side of Fairgrounds in the grass facing south; another motorist, Rob Clason, also traveling south on Fairgrounds in a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV also stopped to help and parked behind the Excursion, the affidavit alleged.
    While Clason called 911, the Stemples rushed to the Chevrolet where Katie Stemple “watched as Rodriguez exited through the rear glass of the pickup and made his way to the surface of the roadway. Katie assisted Rodriguez to the north side of the Chevrolet — trying to get him to sit and wait for first responders,” the affidavit alleged.
    “Clason and Cynthia (Stemple) were just behind Katie (Stemple) near the bed on the driver’s side of the Chevrolet;” within three minutes, a northbound gray 2006 Toyota Tundra driven by Bryant approached from the south at dusk while the area was still lit by sunlight, the affidavit alleged.
    “Initially, Bryant failed to observe the Chevrolet, the Excursion, the Santa Fe, and another Chevrolet pickup near the scene driven by witness Martha Lemusdavila. As Bryant continued north, he drove up from a sag in the roadway and approached within hundreds of feet to the collision when he finally observed and reacted to the collision scene.
    “Bryant applied the brakes of the Tundra and began a left swerve. At this time, Bryant failed to avoid Rodriguez’s Chevrolet, and his Toyota struck the right passenger side rear near the corner. The impact pushed the Chevrolet northward — striking Clason, Cynthia, and Katie Stemple,” the affidavit alleged.
    Clason landed in the roadway, had numerous serious injuries and was taken by ambulance to Stillwater Medical Center before being transferred to OU Medical Center, the affidavit said.
    Cindy Stemple was struck and came to rest under the left rear tire of the Chevrolet; she was transported by air ambulance to OU Medical Center where she died 11 days later from her injuries, the affidavit said. Her daughter, Katie Stemple, was knocked down near the roadside, the affidavit said.
    The Chevrolet driver, Rodriguez-Melendez, was originally charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of Cindy Stemple, but his case was later changed to causing an accident resulting in great bodily injury to Clason by driving without a valid license and crashing his vehicle that was subsequently struck by another vehicle which hit Clason; Rodriguez-Melendez was also charged with aggravated drunk driving.
    The felony count regarding Clason’s injury was dismissed on Feb. 7, 2023, when Rodriguez-Melendez pleaded no contest to aggravated drunk driving for which he was given one year in jail, court records show. Rodriguez-Melendez, who allegedly had admitted to an OHP trooper he had drunk five to six beers before the collision, had a broken nose and was taken to the Stillwater Medical Center.