HELENA, MONTANA — A long-haul truck driver wanted on three counts of homicide in Illinois was arrested Tuesday morning, November 10, after Montana Highway Patrol pulled over his tractor-trailer on an Interstate 15 off-ramp, with U.S. Marshals and Helena police assisting. He is charged in the death of his 2-month-old son at a Monee truck stop in 2022.
The Arrest
Around 9:20 a.m., U.S. Marshals alerted Helena police that Kelsey Simmons was heading toward Helena in a tractor-trailer. Montana Highway Patrol found the truck near Wolf Creek and followed it south. As it neared the city, Helena police moved unmarked units into position. MHP stopped the truck on the southbound I-15 off-ramp near Custer Avenue.
“All we knew is that he’s got a warrant for homicide and he’s driving in this vehicle with these license plates,” said Helena Police Capt. Adam Shanks. Because Simmons was wanted for homicide and driving a tractor-trailer, Helena police sent every available on-duty officer, and the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office also responded. “There was some concern on if he wouldn’t stop, what would happen if he wouldn’t stop,” Shanks said. “We did have a large contingent of officers down there to try to keep that situation isolated in case the vehicle didn’t come to a stop.”
Simmons pulled over, cooperated, and was taken into custody around 10 a.m., less than an hour after local law enforcement was notified. No one was hurt. He is held at the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center.
The Case
Simmons, 35, was charged in Will County, Illinois, with three counts of murder in the death of his son, Sevyn Simmons, four years after the baby was found unresponsive at a truck stop in Monee. Police were called around 9 a.m. on August 31, 2022, to the truck stop at 5915 Monee-Manhattan Road for an infant who was not breathing. Simmons and the boy’s mother, Dominique Scott, told police they had stayed overnight in their company semi and did not know why the baby stopped breathing. Sevyn died two days later. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office found closed head injuries and blunt force head trauma and ruled the death a homicide.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Information courtesy of KTVH and Patch.
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