A Starkville man is facing two felony charges in connection to a fatal four-vehicle wreck downtown that left a Clay County woman dead and multiple people injured.
The Starkville Police Department charged 61-year-old Jimmy Andrew Sims on Monday with manslaughter-culpable negligence and aggravated assault.
According to court documents requested by the Starkville Daily News, Sims knew the vehicle he was operating had previously been faulty. When asked what was faulty about the vehicle, SPD Public Information Officer Brandon Lovelady said he could not comment at this time.
Sims had his initial appearance in Starkville Municipal Court Monday night, where Municipal Court Judge Rodney Faver set his total bond at $35,000. Bond was set at $25,000 for the manslaughter charge and $10,000 for aggravated assault.
Sims' attorney Marty Haug informed Faver that Sims would be able to bond out.
The next court appearance for Sims is scheduled for April 11 at 2 p.m.
The aggravated assault charge is associated with the juvenile involved in the wreck, according to a SPD press release.
SPD announced the arrest less than a week after 47-year-old Tonya Michelle Graham, of Cedarbluff, was pronounced dead on March 13, from injuries sustained in wreck, at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo at 11:30 a.m.
Graham - a wife and mother of one daughter - worked for more than two decades as a veterinary tech of anesthesiology at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Few details have been released as to what spurred the four-car collision, which occurred on Lampkin Street, on the stretch of road between Russell Street and South Montgomery Street.
Three other people were transported to area hospitals, treated and released shortly after the wreck.
SPD said three of the vehicles involved were occupied during the collision.
Sims will remain in the Oktibbeha County Jail until bond is paid.