Jody A. Pierce

Prosecutors in Franklin County have charged a New Haven motorist with murder after they say he chased his estranged wife in her car and caused her to crash and die. Donald A. Pierce Jr. was being held without bond Tuesday in the Franklin County Jail on charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. The Missouri Highway Patrol arrested Pierce, 45, after a fatal crash involving the woman Saturday north of Highway 30 in Franklin County. Police identified the victim as Jody A. Pierce, 41, of Salem, Missouri. A relative of Donald Pierce, Paula Sue Blackwell, told the Post-Dispatch that the couple separated about three months ago. According to a crash report and court documents, Donald Pierce chased Jody Pierce’s vehicle onto Oak Grove Church Road, north of Mill Hill Road about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Her vehicle, a 1999 Ford Explorer, veered to the right but came back onto the road. Her vehicle was then struck by his 2009 Chevrolet Impala, police said. Her car overturned, struck a tree, went down an embankment and became submerged in a river. Police said Donald Pierce left without calling for help. Jody Pierce died at the scene. A woman told investigators she was talking on a cellphone with Jody Pierce moments before the crash. Jody Pierce told her she was being chased by Donald Pierce, court documents allege. Police found Donald Pierce’s phone at the crash site and saw the damage to the car he was driving. Officers arrested him Sunday evening. He admitted chasing her but denied hitting the vehicle, police said. After she crashed, he said he jumped into the water to try to save her “but could not do anything” so he left without calling for help, court documents said. Blackwell said Tuesday that her son “never intended for this to happen” and “did not know she had died” when he left the scene. Donald Pierce did not have an attorney listed in online court records.