State moves to revoke probation of hit and run driver
TUPELO – Motions to revoke the probation of a man accused of leaving the scene of a fatal accident offered more details into the wreck that left a man dead alongside a state highway in the Skyline community last week.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections and the District Attorney’s Office both filed motions in Lee County Circuit Court to revoke the probation and sentence Tyler Phillips for a 2020 house burglary. The motions were filed Friday and a date for a formal revocation hearing has not been set.
Phillips, 27, of County Road 1595, Mooreville, is being held in the Lee County Adult Jail on a $250,000 bond, charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. He is accused of hitting Sean Hefferman, 53, of Mooreville, as Hefferman rode a bicycle along Highway 178 on the evening of Wednesday May 15. Hefferman’s body was not found until the afternoon of Friday May 17.
According to court documents, a witness said someone in a white pickup was attempting to pass her around 11 p.m. Wednesday May 15 just as the two eastbound vehicles were meeting a bicyclist, who was also headed east on the outside edge of the westbound lane. When the pickup immediately turned around and headed back, the witness did as well to see if the truck had hit the cyclist. When she got back to that point, the truck was gone and she did not see the cyclist.
The investigation led officials to Phillips, who first told officers he had traded the truck. After surveillance video from the area showed the truck near the scene of the crime Wednesday night, Phillips said he didn’t have the truck with him and stopped answering his phone.
Phillips’ father called authorities the morning after Hefferman’s body was found and said the truck was in his shed. The father, who is the registered owner of the 2000 Chevy Silverado, gave permission for investigators to search the vehicle. The truck was missing a side mirror, which was found at the crime scene. There was damage to the driver’s side and windshield. Blood and hair were also found on the truck.
Phillips was arrested at an East Barnes Crossing Road convenience store around 10 p.m. May 18.
In the week following his arrest, state officials began work to revoke Phillips’ probation from a 2022 felony conviction. He was originally charged with burglary of a woman’s dwelling but allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of felony malicious mischief in February 2022. The judge did not pass sentence at that time, putting him on 5 years probation. When Phillips was arrested for car burglary in January 2023, the court sentenced him to an inpatient rehabilitation program.
He entered God’s House of Hope in Nettleton but had his graduation date postponed at least twice for mischief, lying, horseplay and vulgar/inappropriate comments. Phillips was finally dismissed from the faith-based program in August 2023 for “excessively lying and hiding darkness to the staff.”
As he left the rehab facility, staff told him he needed to report to MDOC. Phillips did not.
According to the revocation form filed Friday, Phillips has not reported to MDOC since August. 15, 2023 — three days after he left the rehab facility. The form also notes that Phillips violated the terms of probation when he was arrested for grand larceny in Itawamba County in April and then again in connection with Hefferman’s death.
Phillips is accused of stealing four used 18-wheeler tires worth $1,600 from a Peppertown truck service center on Sunday April 21. He was arrested around May 12 and charged with grand larceny by the Itawamba County Sheriff’s Office.
In a separate court document, the District Attorney’s office asks the court to not only revoke the probation but to also impose the sentence that was withheld two years ago as part of the non-adjudication process. Phillips would face up to 5 years in state prison on the felony malicious mischief conviction.
