Man charged with vehicular homicide in Feb. 9 death of two metro-east residents

Carolyn P. Smith
·2 min read

An East St. Louis man has been charged with vehicular homicide in the Feb. 9 deaths of two people who were killed when a car being pursued by a police officer collided with their vehicle as it turned into a driveway.

A charging document from the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office says Zachary P. Carpenter of Converse Avenue is responsible for the deaths of Marilyn Hill and Willie Bufford. Carpenter was driving a Ford Fusion at a high rate of speed while he was traveling on Bond Avenue in East St. Louis, the charging document states. His car struck the Honda Civic that Hill and Bufford were in, causing their deaths, according to the document.

In addition to the homicide charges, Carpenter was charged with two counts of failure to report an accident involving death, for leaving the scene of the accident and for failing to report it to any nearby police agency.

Carpenter also was charged with unlawful use of a weapon. The charging document says he had a loaded Glock 22 (machine gun) on him at a time when he was not on his own property.

Hill, 60, and Bufford, 73, both of Cahokia Heights, died at the scene of the crash in the 3500 block of Bond Avenue.

The accident happened at 2:19 p.m.

Here’s how the Illinois State Police release describes what happened:

“A Cahokia Heights Police Department (CH PD) officer observed Unit 1 traveling at a high rate of speed and while attempting to catch up to the vehicle to initiate enforcement action, the vehicle was observed traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of traffic,” the release states. “ Unit 1 struck Unit 2 on the driver’s side as they were turning left into a driveway.”

The release states the driver of the speeding car then tried to flee the scene of the crash, pulled out a firearm and accidentally shot himself. The driver was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Illinois State Police have not released any additional information about Carpenter’s current condition after the shooting or where he is being held.