Man told officials he ‘drove and killed’ Park Hill senior after party: Court documents
Over two months after a fiery car crash killed a Park Hill High School senior, the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against an 18-year-old Riverside man accused of driving a BMW while intoxicated.
Om Patel, 18, of Riverside, faces second-degree involuntary manslaughter for his role in a fiery car crash near Farley, Missouri, on March 22 that killed 18-year-old Park Hill High School senior Tessa Walker, according to a Platte County criminal complaint.
If convicted, Patel could face up to four years in prison, Tanya Faherty, a victim advocate for the prosecutor’s office, said in a news release Friday.
Platte County sheriff’s deputies responded to the crash near Missouri Highway 45 and North Main Street just before 4:30 a.m., according to a probable cause statement filed in support of Patel’s arrest.
There, they found a 2024 BMW M4 on fire near the road, the probable cause statement said. Patel allegedly approached a deputy, covered in blood, and said, “I drove and killed her.” He identified the individual killed in the crash as Walker.
Patel reportedly told deputies he came from a party at The North 84, a private event venue and Airbnb at 22350 Grass Pad Road, according to the probable cause statement.
In a search warrant conducted at the venue, deputies discovered the Airbnb was rented for an 18-year-old’s birthday party, the statement said. There, investigators found “evidence of underage consumption of alcohol.”
Patel was arrested on suspicion of DWI and transported to an area hospital for evaluation, where a blood draw determined he had a blood alcohol content of .047%, according to the probable cause statement.
After extinguishing the fire engulfing the BMW, first-responders found Walker dead in the back passenger seat of the vehicle, the statement said. A second individual in the back middle seat was transported to an area hospital with “moderate injuries.”
Two other individuals in the car received “minor to severe injuries,” according to a prior news release from the Platte County Sheriff’s Office.
At the scene, investigators found a set of tire marks on the side of the road starting on Missouri Highway 45 moving south from North Main Street, the statement said. Investigators believe the vehicle “impacted the ground before rolling over for one full rotation.”
A speed scuff analysis determined the BMW would have required “a speed of at least 102.65 mph to cause that tire mark,” the statement said. The vehicle came to a rest on its wheels facing west, and had “total fire damage.”
Walker remembered as ‘truly one of a kind’
Walker, a senior at Park Hill High School, planned to attend Northwest Missouri State University in the fall. A part of the school’s volleyball, girls’ flag football and track programs, Park Hill remembers her as a “dedicated student and a talented athlete.”
“Tessa was special to so many at Park Hill High School; her passing leaves a hole in countless hearts,” Lindsey Hood, a teacher and volleyball coach at the high school, said in a district email sent to families shortly after the crash.
Classmates remember the teen as “truly one of a kind,” and a girl who “always had a smile on her face.”
An obituary for Walker said she would have “indeed changed the world.”
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that she’d had it all. And she’d earned every bit,” the obituary said.
No further court dates are set in Patel’s case. According to an arrest warrant issued Friday, he will be held on a $25,000 bond.
