Fugitive wanted in connection for death in Kentucky apprehended in Pike County after jumping into Illinois River

UPDATE: Kerr was released from Illini Community Hospital on Tuesday and transported to the Pike County Jail. The incident is being investigated by the Illinois State Police.

FLORENCE, Ill. — A man wanted in connection with a deadly carjacking at a southern Kentucky truck stop was taken into custody Monday morning after leading law enforcement on a pursuit that ended in the Illinois River at the foot of the Florence Bridge.

The Humphreys County (Tenn.) Sheriff’s Department believes Brian Lee Kerr, Jr., of Columbia, Tenn., is the primary suspect in a deadly carjacking that took place on Dec. 28 in Oak Grove, Ky. Kerr reportedly shot the victim multiple times and drove the stolen vehicle to Humphreys County.

WKRN-TV in Nashville, Tenn., reported that Kerr dumped the stolen vehicle in Oak Grove and stole another vehicle, believed to be a deer hunter’s truck. Kerr then crashed that truck in Maury County (Tenn.). Tennessee authorities reported Kerr was “believed to be armed with two handguns and an AR-15 rifle,” adding he had a prior conviction from 2004 for first-degree murder in the state.

Adams County Deputy Sheriff Pat Frazier said he learned that Kerr was near Adams County at approximately 3 a.m. Monday. A chase for Kerr originated in Iowa and eventually went into Illinois. Frazier said Kerr was spotted on Illinois Route 336 north of Quincy at about 5 a.m., and Kerr immediately fled.

Frazier said Kerr traveled south on Illinois Route 336 and U.S. 172 before taking the exit to Illinois Route 106 at Hull. Kerr then went through Kinderhook, Barry, Pittsfield and Detroit before arriving at the drawbridge at Florence.

Frazier said eight vehicles from the Adams County Sheriff’s Department joined the pursuit, as well as four or five troopers with the Illinois State Police and four or five deputies with the Pike County Sheriff’s Department.

“We didn’t know which roads (Kerr) was going to go on,” Frazier said. “Originally we thought Hannibal, then we thought (Illinois Route) 96 towards Rockport. I don’t think he knew where he was going, because he obviously was not from the area.

“(When Kerr reached the drawbridge,) he ran the gates. There’s a bridge gate that comes down, and he went right through that metal gate, totaled the car out on that gate, put it into the guard rail on the bridge, hopped out of the driver’s seat and jumped over the railing (into the river).”

Frazier said the temperature was 17 degrees at 5:30 a.m. when Kerr jumped into the river. He said the fugitive didn’t get very far. He eventually was rescued by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Pike County Sheriff’s Department.

“He didn’t go under like you’d think,” Frazier said. “He went over the rail, then he just basically floated there until we could throw a rope and a life jacket to him.”

Frazier said Sarah Way of Nashville, Tenn., was a passenger in Kerr’s vehicle. She was on parole out of Kentucky, and she remained inside the vehicle after the vehicle crashed into the bridge. She was taken into custody by law enforcement officials at the scene.

Kerr eventually was apprehended about 100 yards south of the bridge by law enforcement officials who had launched a boat into the river. He was taken to Illini Community Hospital in Pittsfield but has not yet been booked into a jail.