Columbia woman accused in death of man found on I-70 booked into the Boone County Jail

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia woman accused of hitting and killing a man on Interstate 70 back in March was booked into the Boone County Jail Monday night.

Tyia Bush, 38, was charged last week with second-degree involuntary manslaughter and two misdemeanors: Reckless driving and speeding.

According to online jail records, her bond is set at $40,000.

Court documents say Bush allegedly called Boone County Joint Communications before 1 a.m. on March 20 and claimed that “she thought she had struck a deer or something.”

Police later received a call around 1 p.m. on March 20 about a dead body in the median of Interstate 70 at mile marker 131.5.

The body was identified as Ezekiel Rachow, 30, of Columbia. Police said his body had likely been in the median for about 12 hours.

Police went to Economy Towing and found Bush’s Ford Fusion, which allegedly had “significant front end damage to the passenger side front, hood and the windshield of the vehicle,” the statement says. Police say they also saw blood on the vehicle.

Bush allegedly told police that she was going home from work and did not see what she hit, court documents say. Bush allegedly allowed police to search the vehicle and obtain the event data recorder, according to court documents. The data allegedly showed that she was traveling 104 miles per hour in a 60 mph zone, the statement says. 

Police say Rachow was trying to cross the interstate when he was hit and killed.