dailycorinthian.com - North Mississippi's Local News Source

Cars for Kids parade turns
deadly for spectators
Published June 17, 2007
By Kim Jobe
News Editor
SELMER, Tenn. - A weekend of fun and fund-raising turned deadly here Saturday afternoon when a race car careened out of control and ended up in a crowd of spectators.
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Dragster's death toll remains at 6; Officials reconstructing crash scene
Published June 19, 2007
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
SELMER, Tenn. -- It took only moments for a high-powered drag-racing car to spin into the crowd and change dozens of lives forever, but investigators say it will take much longer for them to determine exactly what caused Saturday’s deadly crash during the Cars for Kids charity event in Selmer.
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Makeshift memorial marks
area where car hit crowd
Published June 19, 2007
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
SELMER, Tenn. -- Candles, flowers, pictures and letters now mark the spot where what was supposed to be a weekend of fun instead turned into a deadly tragedy.
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Sisters, new husband
among those killed
Published June 19, 2007
By Jeff York
For the Daily Corinthian
SELMER, Tenn. -- The tragedy that happened at Cars for Kids on Saturday has left McNairy County in a state of mourning over the past few days.
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Successful drag racer may
always be linked to tragedy
Published June 19, 2007
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
SELMER, Tenn. -- Though Troy Critchley is one of the most successful racers in his sport, his name will now forever be linked with tragedy.
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Stories of car show tragedy
seem poignant and surreal
Published June 24, 2007
By Stacy Jones
Special Columnist
All that remains of the accident is a set of skid marks running down a stretch of Mulberry Avenue. Just a little past those marks, however, against a light pole in front of the Sonic Drive-In, rests the real mementoes: votive candles, silk flowers, stuffed animals and photographs.
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Founder: Cars for Kids
fundraiser will continue
Published June 26, 2007
By Jeff York
For the Daily Corinthian
SELMER, Tenn. -- A show of support and encouragement from many people -- including new sponsors -- has led Cars for Kids founder Larry Price to declare the will continue operation of the fund-raising car show.
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Dragster to plead guilty
Published Wednesday, August 13, 2008
By Jeff York and Brant Sappington
For the Daily Corinthian
SELMER, Tenn. -- A driver of a dragster charged with killing six people at last year's Cars for Kids' parade has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges in exchange for a sentence that will allow him to avoid jail time.
Troy Critchley is scheduled to formally enter the plea agreement at a hearing on Thursday in McNairy County Circuit Court. Critchley had been indicted by a special McNairy County grand jury in March on six counts of vehicular homicide and 22 counts of aggravated assault for his role in the June 2007 crash. He volunteered to forfeit his passport and his bond was set at $35,000.
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Cars For Kids driver asks for
forgiveness, pleads guilty
Published Friday, August 15
By Brant Sappington
Staff Writer
SELMER, Tenn. -- One chapter in the aftermath of the Cars for Kids tragedy came to a close Thursday as drag racer Troy Critchley pleaded guilty to multiple misdemeanor charges for his role in piloting the race car that plowed into the crowd at the annual charity event, killing six people and wounding nearly two dozen.
Another chapter in the legal proceedings surrounding the crash will now be able to move ahead as the completion of criminal proceedings opens the door for the numerous lawsuits that have been filed in civil court to move ahead more quickly.
Critchley sought forgiveness from the victims of the crash and the families of those killed as he pleaded guilty to 28 misdemeanor charges of reckless simple assault. He had originally been charged with six counts of vehicular homicide and 22 counts of aggravated assault.
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