A Jefferson Parish judge on Monday (Aug. 26) sentenced truck driver Philemon Lyons-Feemster to three years of active probation, after the defendant pleaded guilty to causing the death of a bicyclist on River Road in Marrero last year.
Lyons-Feemster, 29, a Lake Charles resident, pleaded guilty as charged to negligent homicide in the death of Pedro Manzuela-Villa, 32, of Belle Chasse.
Just before 9 a.m., on April 4, 2023, Manzuela-Villa was riding his bicycle with the flow of traffic on River Road when he entered a sharp S-curve in the roadway just east of Robinson Avenue. The bicyclist, who was wearing a helmet and was training for a bicycling competition, was riding on the extreme right edge of the roadway.
Lyons-Feemster was driving behind him in a 2019 International truck pulling a petroleum tanker trailer. He attempted to pass the bicyclist in the no-passing zone in the S-curve.
As the tractor-trailer entered the curve, the trailer’s right rear wheels left the roadway. Manzuela-Villa was struck by the side of the tanker trailer and knocked to the ground. He fell beneath the rear wheels and died at the scene.
Louisiana State Police initially cited Lyons-Feemster with a state traffic violation that limits when motorists can pass bicyclists. Known as the Colin Goodier Bicycle Protection Act, the law requires motorists to maintain at least three feet of space between their vehicles and bicycles. The law also allows motorists to pass bicyclists in no-passing zones only when it is safe to do so.
Video obtained from the cab in which Lyons-Feemster drove and his cell phone records show he was speaking with someone on the phone at the time he entered the S-curve and that he was aware of the bicyclist ahead of him.
Upon reviewing the case, the District Attorney’s Office charged Lyons-Feemster with negligent homicide.
After hearing victim-impact testimony from Manzuela-Villa’s girlfriend on Monday, Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District Court, in accepting the guilty plea, sentenced Lyons-Feemster to five years in prison – the maximum punishment for negligent homicide. Judge Enright suspended the sentence and ordered Lyons-Feemster to serve three years of active probation.
Assistant District Attorney Molly Love prosecuted the case.