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Man guilty of hitting girlfriend with pickup, killing her

Times-Tribune staff

It took a Madison County jury only 40 minutes last Thursday to find 60-year-old Richard D. Mayor guilty of first-degree murder for hitting his girlfriend with his pickup in February in Pontoon Beach. 

A U.S. Marine no longer on active duty and driving a tractor-trailer tried to help Lisa M. Dunnavant-Polach, 46, when he saw her in distress and trying to escape from Mayor on Feb. 21 on Illinois Route 111. As the victim tried to enter the tractor, she was struck by Mayor’s pickup, according to a news release from the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office. 

Richard D. Mayor

The tractor-trailer driver tried to use his CB cord as a tourniquet on the victim’s severed leg. The victim was able to tell him the person who hit her was her boyfriend. According to testimony, the injured Dunnavant-Polach told rescuers: “I have children. I’m not ready to die yet.” She was taken to a St. Louis hospital, where she died of her injuries.

“We highly commend the fellow motorists and emergency responders who heroically tried to help Lisa Dunnavant-Polach and save her life,” State’s Attorney Tom Haine said. “These Good Samaritans continued to do the right thing, by having the courage to come to court and tell the jury what the victim could not: that it was Richard Mayor who mowed her down, and that she did not want to die.” 

Pontoon Beach Police quickly arrived on the scene, prosecutors said in the release. Officers too tried to perform life-saving measures to help the victim. They also developed information on the suspect, Mayor, who was located by a Madison County deputy after his pickup broke down about five miles away on Illinois 203 in Granite City.

During trial, in an effort assistant prosecutor Luke Yager described as “fantastical,” Mayor asked the court to consider a lesser offense of reckless homicide. Mayor claimed his foot got stuck between his truck’s brake and accelerator and he did not intend to hit the victim. 

He also claimed he kept driving away from the scene because he “blacked out,” according to the release. He faces between 60-100 years in prison. A sentencing hearing had not been set as of press time. 

“The outstanding work of police, the testimony of the witnesses and the diligent work of prosecutors allowed the jury to quickly see through this killer’s many lies,” Haine said. “This was an extreme case of domestic violence. We will continue to strive to hold domestic abusers accountable.”

 

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