Killeen I-14 crash suspect James Stevens dies, family says

James Stevens, a suspect arrested last month in connection with a deadly auto-pedestrian crash on Interstate 14 in Killeen, died Sunday, according to his family.

James Stevens, a suspect arrested last month in connection with a deadly auto-pedestrian crash on Interstate 14 in Killeen, died Sunday, according to his family.

One of the two suspects arrested last month in connection with a deadly auto-pedestrian crash on Interstate 14 in Killeen has died, a local official said.

“I can confirm that James Arthur Stevens passed away,” said Bell County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Cliff Coleman on Monday.

Stevens, 64, of Copperas Cove, was charged on Sept. 14 with collision involving death after allegedly striking 25-year-old Faith Sidman of Springfield, Oregon, with his vehicle. He had been in custody at the Bell County Jail since his Sept. 16 arrest.

Although Coleman confirmed that Stevens had died, he did not say when or discuss the circumstances surrounding the man’s death.

The spokesman stated that when an inmate dies in custody, it is a statutory requirement that the Texas Rangers investigate the death as long as it doesn’t occur under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

“As far as the cause, manner, anything like that, I know that an autopsy would have to be done,” Coleman said. “As far as any information, I’d have to call the Ranger to get this.”

However, according to Stevens’ niece, LaQueeta Humes, Stevens died around noon on Sunday after he was hospitalized at Baylor Scott & White.

She said that her uncle suffered from heart disease and had an implanted cardiac defibrillator. He additionally had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a medical condition requiring the use of a CPAP machine.

“People loved him,” Stevens’ sister, Vonda Countiss, said.

Countiss described her brother — an Army veteran and retired schoolteacher — as a man of God with no criminal history who served as a pastor and enjoyed driving for Lyft and Uber. She said he had lived in Copperas Cove since 2011, having moved there from Houston after their mother’s death.

“Everywhere he went, he was always a dedicated, loyal member of the church,” said Socargeeweer Dixon, Stevens’ other sister. “He was always a giver… he was a community type guy.”

Faith Impact Church, a congregation in Robinson, Texas, led by Stevens’ brother, Varrick Butler, mourned Stevens’ death in a Facebook post Monday.

“It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved Minister James A. Stevens Jr., affectionately known as Pastor Jim,” the church wrote in the post. “He was a loving brother, uncle, and friend who will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.”

The Killeen Police Department said that Sidman, the woman who was killed in the crash, was a back-seat passenger in a gray 2019 GMC pickup driven by 22-year-old Elwood Dentler of Fort Hood on July 22.

“During a verbal argument inside the vehicle, Sidman exited the pickup while it was traveling westbound on Interstate 14,” KPD stated in a Sept. 16 news release. “Dentler continued from the scene with a front-seat passenger.”

According to Steven’s arrest affidavit, a caller reported that a person had jumped or been thrown from the GMC pickup truck in front of the caller onto the highway and that the truck continued to travel down the highway without stopping. The court document indicated that another caller reported that an unknown number of vehicles struck Sidman after she landed on the highway.

The affiant, KPD officer Steven Parham, stated in the affidavit that police determined through an investigation that Stevens was driving a 2017 Toyota Prius westbound on Interstate 14, behind three other vehicles, including the pickup truck in which Sidman had been riding.

The officer stated that the first two vehicles directly behind the pickup swerved and avoided hitting Sidman after she fell from the truck and that surveillance footage from a nearby business captured Stevens striking the woman who was lying in the roadway.

Police said in the release that Sidman was also struck by an Audi sedan, but that the Audi driver stopped immediately and remained at the scene.

Parham said that after identifying the vehicle and speaking with Stevens, he admitted to an officer that he had struck an object in the roadway but was unaware it was a person.

Stevens also allegedly told police that after striking the object, he returned to a gas station nearby where he observed emergency lights and vehicles, but did not stop or contact law enforcement. Parham said officers spoke with the dealership through which Stevens leased his vehicle and learned that Stevens brought it in for repairs to minor front-end damage on the morning of July 23.

KPD announced that on Sept. 16 the United States Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force located Stevens in Copperas Cove. He was arrested without incident and transported to the Bell County Jail.

In the Sept. 16 news release, police said that Dentler, the driver of the truck, continued from the scene with a front-seat passenger.

“Following the crash, the front-seat passenger who had been traveling with Dentler returned to the area but did not return directly to the crash scene,” said KPD. “The passenger was later located in Harker Heights and arrested for Driving While Intoxicated by the Killeen Police Department Traffic Unit with the assistance of the Harker Heights Police Department.

Police also said that during the investigation, Dentler gave investigators a false account of the crash, and on Aug. 13, he was arrested and subsequently released after posting a $2,000 bond.

“Traffic Unit investigators presented the case to the Bell County District Attorney’s Office for review, and a complaint was returned charging Dentler with Collision Involving Death, a second-degree felony,” KPD said. “A warrant was issued, and Dentler was arrested on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. He subsequently posted a $100,000 bond and was released.”

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One of the two suspects arrested last month in connection with a deadly auto-pedestrian crash on Interstate 14 in Killeen has died, a local official said.

Two men remain in the hospital after a shooting Monday involving at least three men in north Killeen, police said.

Zeresh Dairell Thornburg, 41, of Harker Heights was arrested after a call to police from the 6100 block of Griffith Loop after a domestic disturbance involving a weapon was reported.

A burglary and a subsequent altercation at a Killeen home in 2023, has led to a term of probation for a Michigan woman and a prison sentence for a Copperas Cove woman who was a co-defendant in the case.

Bell County indictments released Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026:

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