Detroit Lyft Driver Charged With Murder After Crash Kills Visiting NC Couple

Wayne County prosecutors charged Theopris Mays, 40, on Feb. 26 with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of reckless driving causing death and one count of leaving the scene of an at-fault accident causing death, the prosecutor’s office said. Assistant prosecutor Brian Craigo told FOX 2 that Mays was driving "more than 90 mph five seconds before the crash" and "did not brake," and prosecutors allege he had been speeding and disregarding traffic control devices for roughly 10 miles before the collision.

Detroit police and CBS Detroit said officers were dispatched about 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22 to the 6000 block of Rosa Parks Boulevard and found a sport-utility vehicle upright against a loading dock door at a warehouse. Paramedics pronounced both passengers dead at the scene; the victims were identified as Andre Boynton, 60, and Carla Boynton, 57, both of Durham, North Carolina, according to CBS and WRAL.

FOX 2 identified the warehouse as a Cardinal Health building on Rosa Parks Boulevard and reported that Mays had picked up the Boyntons from a hotel on Mercury Drive to bring them to a religious event at Huntington Place. Metro Times and WRAL said prosecutors allege Mays lost control of the SUV after driving recklessly at a high rate of speed and that both passengers were trapped inside the vehicle when first responders arrived.

Multiple outlets report Mays fled the crash scene on foot and was later found hiding in another vehicle after a bystander called police; FOX 2 described this sequence and CBS noted initial reporting that the driver was injured and taken for medical treatment while in police custody. Detroit Police Department and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office have said Mays was working as a Lyft driver at the time of the crash; FOX 2 reported they contacted Lyft and that the affiliate received a statement, though the content of that statement was not provided in initial reports.

Mays was arraigned in 36th District Court in Detroit, where a judge set bond at $500,000 cash or surety. CBS Detroit, Metro Times and WRAL reported a bond redetermination hearing was scheduled for the Friday following the Feb. 26 filings and a probable cause conference set for March 5; FOX 2’s reporting gave different hearing dates, listing a Feb. 7 bond predetermination and a May 5 probable cause conference. As of the filings, Mays remained jailed at the Wayne County Jail on the $500,000 bond.

Mays’ defense attorney told FOX 2 that Mays suffered a brain bleed that may have affected his actions after the crash; the attorney’s name was not provided in initial reports. Metro Times noted that if convicted on the charges he faces up to life in prison. Court docket entries and the Wayne County charging documents will determine the official schedule and next steps in the case.