John Killough Jr. Arrested; Martinsville Man Sentenced In Hit-and-run Crash That Killed 11-year-old Boy
John Killough Jr. Arrested; Martinsville Man Sentenced In Hit-and-run Crash That Killed 11-year-old Boy
Kyson Beatty, 11, was riding a motorized bike on Tibbs Avenue and crossing Wicker Road when he was hit by a large flatbed truck Dec. 11, 2021.
A Marion County judge sentenced a man from Martinsville to 12 years in prison in a December 2021 hit-and-run crash that killed an 11-year-old boy.
John Killough Jr. previously pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, resulting in death or catastrophic injury. As a result, charges of operating as a habitual traffic offender causing death and operating a motor vehicle after forfeiture of license for life were dismissed.
The crash happened Dec. 11, 2021, on the south side of Indianapolis. Police said 11-year-old Kyson Beatty was riding a motorized bike on Tibbs Avenue and crossing Wicker Road when he was hit by a large flatbed truck, which left the scene.
Medics pronounced Beatty dead at the scene, and an autopsy determined the boy died of blunt force trauma.
One week after the incident, police arrested Killough.
“There’s no way to describe the pain of losing your child,” said Beatty’s mother, Amanda Tarter, after learning of Killough’s arrest. “I will be at every single court hearing, and I will make sure that he gets the harshest punishment possible.”
Kraig King and his wife told 13News Killough showed up at their house, asking for a place to stay.
“He was like, ‘Man, I’m cold, I got my dog, I don’t know where to go, I gambled all my money away, wrecked my truck,'” recalled King, who said he had only met Killough a handful of times in the past.
King and his wife told Killough he could stay in their camper, parked in their side yard, for the night.
The next morning, Killough was invited in to shower and have breakfast.
“And it wasn’t three minutes after that, he walked out the door and his picture popped up on Facebook,” King said.
King’s wife called police, who arrived moments later and arrested Killough in the camper.
“He never once mentioned anything about it,” said King, referring to the hit-and-run crash.
According to court documents, investigators said surveillance video identified Killough as the driver of the flatbed truck suspected of hitting Beatty.
The same documents also revealed a passenger was in that truck who, when approached by police, told them he had seen “something blue streak from the left toward the truck.”
He then heard a thump as he witnessed Killough swerve, then say, “Aw f**k…I think I hit somebody.”
When the passenger asked Killough what he was doing, Killough allegedly told him he “can’t be caught driving the truck” and quickly “shifted gears to speed up.” Police cited BMV records that showed Killough is a “habitual traffic violator for life.”
A probable cause affidavit filed in the case says a lug nut from the flatbed truck Killough was driving that Saturday afternoon was left at the scene of the crash. Detectives tracked the lug nut back to a business owned by Robert Lee in Morgan County using witness statements and surveillance images from nearby cameras.
Lee told police Killough worked for him and was one of the truck’s drivers.
When police first made contact with Killough, he told them the truck was parked near Fairview Road and State Road 37 in Johnson County. He also claimed someone else was driving.
When police found the truck, they matched the missing lug nut from the crash scene and found scuff marks on the driver’s side.
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