A Missouri police officer and mother of six was killed during a high-speed chase after losing control of her patrol car while trying to conduct a traffic stop.
Osage Beach police officer Phylicia Carson, 33, was on patrol Sunday at around 1:20 a.m. when she spotted a vehicle speeding down a rural road in Camden County near the Lake of the Ozarks, Chief Todd Davis said during a press conference Saturday.
Carson activated her police lights and pursued the suspect to carry out a traffic stop, but the driver sped off.
While chasing down the suspect, Carson lost control of her patrol car and skidded off the road, crashing into a tree. Davis said that her cop car had then ignited into flames upon impact.
The department received a report of a vehicle on fire on the highway that Carson was pursuing the suspect. They tried contacting her but were unsuccessful.
“Officer Carson perished in the crash,” a choked-up Davis said while wiping tears away.
The suspect, Christopher Aaron Bishop Wehmeyer, 23, crashed minutes after Carson while he was fleeing the scene and was later arrested, according to police.
Carson joined the department in June 2023. She is survived by her husband, Grant Carson, and her six children.
“Please keep the Carson family, our Department, and our community in your thoughts and prayers as we work through this tragic event,” Davis said.
An investigation by Missouri State Highway Patrol is ongoing.
The Post reached out to the Osage Beach Police Department for comment.
Wehmeyer was charged with aggravated fleeing a stop or detention of a motor vehicle, resulting in death, according to online records.
He is being held in the Camden County Jail without bond.
The charges come just days after the state passed the new Valentine’s law.
Valentine’s Law creates the offense of “aggravated fleeing a stop or detention of a motor vehicle if the person knows that a law enforcement officer is attempting to detain the vehicle and the person flees at a high speed, which creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury or death or actually causes physical injury or death to another person,” according to the State of Missouri.
“A suspect who is charged becomes a defendant, and that can be up to a felony, which is 10 to 30 years for life in prison,” Camden County Prosecuting Attorney Richelle Grosvenor told KY3.
Carson’s death marked the police department’s first line-of-duty loss in 30 years.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson shared his condolences in the wake of the officer’s death, saying he and his wife Teresa are keeping the “Osage Beach community in our prayers.”
“Officer Carson will not be forgotten,” The governor of The Show-Me State wrote on X.
Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe also said he and his wife, Claudia, “extend our heartfelt condolences to Officer Carson’s husband, their six children and fellow officers.”
“We must remember those in law enforcement who courageously serve their communities, despite the threats they face,” he wrote. “May Officer Carson never be forgotten.”
Family friend Cira Clement Monnig wrote on Facebook that “Phylicia Carson has always been one of those women that inspire you for the person that she has been… God loving, momma bear, funny, outspoken, ball of joy.
“My heart is broken for her, Grant Carson, and their kids that she has absolutely lived for. Please lift this family up and ask God to wrap them in peace.”
