Police said a stolen pickup struck and killed a 23-year-old woman after the driver fled officers on Murfreesboro Pike.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A 23-year-old Nashville woman was killed Friday after a parolee driving a stolen Ford F-250 fled police, crossed into oncoming traffic on Murfreesboro Pike and slammed into her car as she tried to turn into her subdivision, authorities said.
The crash capped hours of events that police said began with a truck theft from a North Nashville car lot and escalated into two separate ramming incidents before a five-minute chase near the Davidson-Rutherford county line. By Saturday, investigators had identified the woman as Oluwalayomi Fadero and said the suspect, Ray Eugene Padgett, 52, had been jailed on multiple felony charges tied to the crash and the pursuit that came before it.
Metro Nashville Police said the case started about 9:30 a.m. Friday when Padgett, who officers said was on parole, stole a Ford F-250 from a car lot in North Nashville. Investigators said the lot owner used the truck’s tracking technology to find it in an alley off St. Louis Street and drove there in another vehicle. When the owner pulled up behind the pickup, Padgett reversed and rammed the owner’s car, police said, then drove away. Police later used a helicopter to follow the truck. “The intention at that point is to keep an eye on the truck until it finally stops, have ground units move in, and take the man into custody,” Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said as he described the department’s response.
Authorities said the situation changed again around 2 p.m. near a connector road between Murfreesboro Pike and Old Murfreesboro Pike. Police said Padgett stopped in the roadway, accelerated toward an unmarked police SUV and crashed into it while a plainclothes detective was inside. The detective was not seriously hurt. That collision triggered a ground pursuit down Murfreesboro Pike that police said lasted about five minutes and reached roughly 80 mph. Around 2:30 p.m., investigators said, Padgett drove into oncoming traffic near Murfreesboro Pike and Hickory Woods Drive. The stolen truck then struck Fadero’s Hyundai Elantra on the driver’s side as she attempted to turn off the pike. Police said the force of the crash shoved the car about 100 yards into a ditch. Fadero was pronounced dead at the scene.
By Saturday, police had released the victim’s name and added more detail about the collision. Fadero was a 23-year-old Nashville resident, authorities said. Investigators described her as an uninvolved driver who was heading into her neighborhood when the pickup hit her car. The crash shut down part of Murfreesboro Pike for hours Friday afternoon and evening as officers reconstructed the scene and blocked access to nearby homes. A neighbor told local television crews that officers tried to help residents figure out alternate ways back into the area, but the closure left some people stranded outside the subdivision for hours. Police did not publicly say Saturday whether any dashboard, surveillance or helicopter video would be released, and court records available in local reports did not show whether Padgett had an attorney speaking on his behalf.
The case also renewed questions about Padgett’s record and why he was free at the time of the crash. Police said he was on parole Friday morning and had at least 20 prior convictions across five Tennessee counties, including convictions involving theft, burglary and DUI. Authorities have not publicly detailed the offense or sentence that most recently placed him on parole, and they have not said whether any state review of his supervision status is underway. What is clear, investigators said, is that the fatal collision came after a long chain of alleged criminal acts in a single day: the theft of the pickup, the ramming of the lot owner’s vehicle, the crash into an unmarked police SUV and the wrong-way collision that killed Fadero. Those details are likely to shape both the criminal case and broader scrutiny of how the suspect came to be back on the street.
Padgett was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with injuries police described as non-life-threatening. After he was discharged Saturday, authorities said, he was booked into custody. Police said he is charged with criminally negligent homicide, vehicular homicide by recklessness, felony reckless endangerment, attempted criminal homicide and driving on a revoked license. Local reports said his bond was set at $805,000. Investigators also said additional charges are anticipated. The attempted criminal homicide count stems from the crash involving the unmarked police SUV, according to Metro police. The fatal crash itself remains under investigation, and prosecutors are expected to decide later whether to pursue further counts as detectives finish gathering evidence, including crash reconstruction findings and any vehicle data.
The human loss remained at the center of the case Saturday as more information emerged about Fadero. Police described her as an innocent driver with no role in the pursuit. Her car, a Hyundai Elantra, was hit on the driver’s side with such force that investigators said it was “violently struck.” The blunt language from police reflected the severity of what witnesses and nearby residents saw unfold on a busy Nashville corridor just before the weekend. While officers focused on processing the scene, neighbors faced blocked roads and emergency vehicles lined along Murfreesboro Pike near the county line. By then, the chase was over, but the case had become something larger: a fatal end to what police said was a reckless run by a parolee in a stolen truck through one of the city’s major traffic routes.
As of Saturday night, Padgett was in custody, Fadero had been identified, and detectives said the investigation was continuing. The next major step is likely to come in court as prosecutors move forward on the filed charges and determine whether to add more.
Author note: Last updated March 22, 2026.