Sentencing delayed as motorist who fatally struck bicyclist reconsiders plea

Johnny Lee Taylor Sr., 74, of Kenosha, was in Racine County Circuit Court on Monday where his attorney indicated the defendant may have changed his mind about the guilty plea he entered as part of a negotiated settlement.

At issue were statements Taylor made during the pre-sentence investigation in which he claimed that he “didn’t cause this accident and didn’t cause the death of this young man.”

The defendant was charged for the Jan. 7, 2019 death of Teren Cagle, who was 18 years old when he was struck while he rode his bike along Highway 32, near Hansche Road.

Following an investigation by the Mount Pleasant Police Department, Taylor was charged with hit & run involving death.

Delay

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Tanck-Adams called the defendant’s actions “absolutely absurd.”

She reminded the court the case was so close to a jury trial, the jury was in the hallway waiting to be seated and the witnesses were subpoenaed when the defendant decided to accept the plea deal.

Now, he wanted to change his mind — again.

Tanck-Adams pointed out the fatal incident took place nearly three years ago, and the victim’s family was in the courtroom “needing closure.”

She noted the many adjournments the defendant received throughout the case, and delays due to changes in attorneys, and said it “was just frustrating.”

Racine County Circuit Court Judge Robert Repischak said he did not want a situation where the defendant was forced to make a quick decision about withdrawing his plea — one way or the other.

“I think the optics of that won’t look right to the appellate court in this case,” he said. “I’m not going to rush this and later have the appellate court come back and say he didn’t have enough time to consider his options.”

The sentencing hearing was rescheduled for 11:30 a.m. today. It’s unclear if he will actually be sentenced at that time, or if there would be a course change back toward a trial.

Death of an 18-year-old

The Mount Pleasant Police Department was dispatched at 10:46 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2019 to Highway 32 (Sheridan Road) near Hansche Road for a report of an unconscious person lying in the ditch.

The victim was later identified as Teren Cagle, 18, who was transported to the hospital, where he died of head and internal injuries.

At the scene, officers found Cagle’s badly damaged bike.

According to the criminal complaint, surveillance video from a nearby home showed the teenager riding southbound on Highway 32 when a vehicle came up close from behind and struck the bicyclist.

The vehicle was a pickup truck. It was driven away from the scene, then returned, drove by the accident scene slowly and then drove away again.

The collision with the bicycle left debris from the pickup on the roadway.

Officers gathered the pieces, discovered a serial number on a part, which narrowed down the type of vehicle they were looking for and allowed them to do a check for the known vehicles in the area.

One of those vehicles belonged to Taylor.

When confronting Taylor, officers observed that parts of Taylor’s vehicle had been replaced, but there was damage to the windshield in the shape of a human head.

According to police, Taylor admitted that he had been driving on Highway 32 that night when “all of a sudden he thought he may have hit something because his vehicle pulled to the right, but that he was not sure if he hit anything.”