Arrest warrant issued for man accused of abandoning girlfriend after fatal motorcycle crash

Neil Peter Meyer was in court before

A lawyer says he has been in contact with his client, who is on the run in a case in which he is accused of vehicular homicide.

Attorney Johnny Houston said he expects Neil Peter Meyer to surrender soon. He said Meyer, who hails from Morristown, Tennessee, was an unreliable broker, which sometimes caused him to be late for court.

Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman ordered Meyer’s arrest in July and set bail at $1 million when he failed to appear.

Judge Steelman had previously reduced bail for Meyer, who police said left town after a motorcycle accident in which his girlfriend was killed.

In May 2023, he reduced Meyer’s bond from $501,500 to $100,000.

At that time, Meyer was placed on a GPS tracking device and was told he had to use an ignition interlock device. He would be under the supervision of pre-trial services and be subject to drug testing.

Houston, the attorney at the time, said the $500,000 bail was much higher than most other vehicular homicide cases, including the one in which six Woodmore Elementary School children were killed and the recent crash at Volkswagen that killed one employee and seriously injured another.

The lawyer stated that Meyer had been in prison for seven months before the case was taken to the Grand Jury.

Prosecutor Jason Demastus also acknowledged the state could not prove whether Meyer was drunk at the time of the early morning crash on Fairview Road. His blood has not been tested since he left the scene.

The prosecutor, who said that he had just started the case, said that he would personally bring the matter before the Grand Jury within a month.

Meyer also faces charges in Hamblen County. Judge Steelman stated that he faces 3-6 years in prison if convicted of the local case, but faces 8-12 years in prison for the meth charges in Hamblen County.

Meyer had moved to Chattanooga from his longtime home in Fresno, California, with his girlfriend, 39-year-old Kristie Leigh Hudson, and their three children. Around the same time, Meyer’s wife left California with their three children and moved to Morristown, Tennessee.

The fatal incident occurred on September 10, 2022, and Meyer was arrested three days later in Morristown. It was stated that the drug charges were brought after Meyer’s wife called the police and said that there were drugs in the cooler in her home and that they did not belong to her. His wife later returned to California with their children.

Meyer had testified at an earlier bond hearing that he did not use drugs. Prosecutor Demascus said Meyer was convicted of drunken driving in California in 2008 and 2013.

Meyer said he worked as a foreman for a group that installed flooring in Chattanooga. He said he is in the process of starting his own flooring and pressure washing company.

Police said Meyer was riding a motorcycle with his girlfriend when he crashed into a guardrail. He then left the scene.

Traffic investigator Steven York said Ms. Hudson’s body was seen lying on a residential lawn by a passerby around 7:30 that morning.

He said the evidence showed that the motorcycle crashed on a bend in rainy weather and got stuck beyond the guard rails.

The officer said his girlfriend suffered a serious leg injury when the motorcycle crashed into the guardrail, but the coroner said she died from a broken neck after being thrown 100 feet from the collision with the guardrail.

Inspector York said the evidence also showed Meyer walked to Ms. Hudson’s nearby home on Harbor View Drive, where he picked up his Dodge Ram truck and returned to the scene of the wreck. He said tire tracks were found there that matched those on his truck. There were two motorcycle helmets at the scene of the wreck.

The damaged motorcycle was later found in a cul-de-sac near the Hudson residence, the officer said. He said Ms. Hudson’s body was carried about 50 meters from the crash site.

It was stated that Meyer took with him a photograph of himself and Mrs. Hudson hanging on the wall from home.

An earlier hearing was told that Meyer sent a message to Ms Hudson’s 16-year-old daughter saying she “admitted that she had fainted and wasn’t sure what had happened”. He said he “hit his head so hard he didn’t remember much of anything.” He said he “tried to lift him up but his legs, lungs, abdominal muscles and ribs were shattered and he was very upset that the road was wet and he had no traction.”

It was also stated at the preliminary hearing that Meyer was part of the 5 Diamond Motorcycle Gang while in California.

Related Posts