NEWPORT—A Murfreesboro man is dead after he was struck by a charter bus following a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 40 Thursday morning in Cocke County.
According to the accident report filed by Tennessee Highway Patrol, Geoffrey K. Cheruiyot, 23, Murfreesboro, was lying in the middle of I-40 near mile marker 434 when he was struck by a 2000 Prevost bus, driven by Michael Henry Edwards, 64, Cleveland, Ga.
Cheruiyot was traveling westbound on I-40 in a Chevrolet Impala when he struck a concrete barrier and then rolled over in the median near Mile Marker 433. He then fled the scene on foot prior to officers’ arrival before being struck by the bus nearly a mile down the interstate.
Edwards told troopers after he realized he struck Cheruiyot, he pulled over to the shoulder of the road. The bus was occupied by 34 people.
Cheruiyot was a recent graduate of Middle Tennessee State University where he was an outstanding track athlete. On May 10-13, he competed in the Conference USA Track & Field championships in Houston, where he finished as high as 4th place in the men’s 3000 meter steeplechase for the Blue Raiders team. He had won that same event in the 2017 CUSA championships.
He graduated on May 5 this year from the Murfreesboro school, with a bachelor’s degree in public health. According to the school’s website, he attended Chepill Secondary School in Edloret, Kenya prior to enrolling at MTSU. He planned to practice public health after graduation.
After Cheruiyot’s vehicle struck the concrete barrier, Tyrone Anthony Azemas, 35, Louisiana, made contact with a part of the concrete barrier while traveling in his tractor-trailer. Azemas was not injured, according to Lt. Bob Schaff of the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office.
THP requested alcohol and drug testing during Cheruiyot’s autopsy.
- By ALISON BROOKS
