Cody Townsend died on Sunday, February 2nd in Moore, OK. The fatal car accident was initially reported as a hit and run in the media, but now there are questions about who actually caused it. Depending on who you read, or listen to the wreck was either caused by the 29 year old Townsend, or he suffered from a tragic and terminal case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Whatever the cause young Mr. Townsend died and the word of his demise quickly traveled to his father, Max. The elder Townsend was reportedly working a night shift job in Muskogee over in the northeastern part of the state. According to the same report he walked away from his position at 2am on the 3rd of February in order to drive over to the OKC metro area.
It would be the last time anyone would admit to seeing him for 12 plus hours.
Google tells us the trip between Muskogee and Moore is 141 miles, or about two hours and 15 minutes driving time in light traffic. At this point no one knows for sure where Max Townsend was during those missing 10 hours, but given what happened that Monday afternoon we can hazard a guess.
Beginning in 1991 Townsend the elder had racked up a fairly impressive list of felonies across the state. There were multiple convictions for DUI, possession of controlled dangerous substances, and at least one for possessing and concealing stolen property. Most disturbing however were the three times he went in for child abuse.
Yes, it would seem Big Max is a mean drunk and he likes to take it out on kids. No one knows, at this moment anyway, whether Cody was one of them, or not, but the record is there and it is public.
A little after three pm on Monday the final bell at Moore High School rang. In addition to students leaving for the day six members of the track and cross country teams took off for a group run. They were using a sidewalk next to the street as their route.
If the media is correct Brother Max came hot footing down the road next to the school doing over 70 miles per hour. He ran into a parked car which sent him careening across the street and plowing into the six Moore athletes.
Witness say as he drove away from the carnage two Moore football players who saw what had happened gave chase in their vehicle. A couple of blocks away, as Townsend made a turn onto another street, he ran his pursuers off the road, then almost immediately flew into a yard, slamming into an auto parked in the driveway which was pushed violently into yet another parked car.
In short it was mayhem.
Rachel Freeman was dead at the scene. On the following Wednesday she was to accept a scholarship to run for Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas. Yuridia Martinez died later in the day after she arrived at an Oklahoma City hospital. This past Saturday, nearly two weeks after the nightmare, Kolby Crum also succumbed to his injuries.
Shiloh Hutchinson and Ashton Raza have been discharged from the hospital, both having suffered multiple broken bones. Joseph White is still there and will also survive.
After the disaster Max Townsend exited his red pick up truck and sat on a curb nearby. One witness described him as disoriented and not making much sense. The man, who owned the home where the truck came to rest, told the media Townsend kept saying over and over again, "My son, my son, my son."
Moore police say a field sobriety test performed at the site, "indicated," Mr. Townsend was impaired. They took him to a local hospital for a blood test then chucked him into the Cleveland County Detention Center, where he currently resides. The DA says there is no indication the tragedy was a planned assault--some sort of warped revenge for Cody's death the previous day.
Later, on the same evening of the wreck, a NRA type cretin posted on Twitter, "So I guess liberals are going to try to ban pick up trucks now." Well, with some people there is no accounting for taste, not to mention intelligence.
Max Townsend was facing two charges of first degree manslaughter before Kolby Crum died. Presumably he will now be looking at three. That's along with ten other counts including four of DUI while causing great bodily injury and two, now possibly three, of leaving the scene of a fatality accident.
No one truly knows what was going through his head that day. Perhaps he really was wracked with insurmountable grief and his response was to dive into the nearest bottle of alcohol and, or outlaw meds. At least you can try to sell that to a jury.
What is tragically evident is three sets of parents have now lost their kids while another three are nursing their critically injured children. None of them deserved it, but Max Townsend, at least at the moment of impact and its immediate aftermath, didn't give a shit about any of that, or them.
Indeed, on that terrible Monday, it wasn't even about Cody Townsend's awful passing the day before. No, during those missing 10 hours his death had become all about dear old Dad. Dear old, chronically dunk, Dad.
2-17-20
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