Jeffrey Ray Pierson, 18, of Glasscock County was initially charged with intoxication manslaughter in August of 2008 after a passenger riding in the bed of the truck he was driving was thrown from the vehicle and killed on Longshore Road, south of Big Spring.

Michael Robert Creel, 18, was pronounced dead just after 1 p.m. by Howard County Justice of the Peace Benny Green after law enforcement officials say he is believed to have fallen or been thrown from the back of the pickup during the late night hours of Aug. 20, 2008.

According to County Attorney Joshua Hamby, Pierson's case was originally handled by District Attorney Hardy Wilkerson, and was turned over to his office May 15.

“We're working on setting a date for pre-trial,” said Hamby. “Pierson is being charged with driving while intoxicated, and because it is his first offense it's a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.”

According to reports filed with the Howard County Sheriff's Office, the two young men were at Creel's residence the evening before the young man's body was discovered, and had left with a juvenile just after midnight.

“We have confirmed there was a juvenile in the vehicle at that time,” said HCSO Chief Deputy Mark Hall shortly after Pierson's arrest. “They left Creel's residence at about midnight. Pierson returned to the Creel residence at about 2:30 a.m. Creel was missing approximately 13 hours before his body was found, but he was never reported missing to the authorities.

“Pierson told us he thought Creel had gotten out of the back of the truck at a stop sign during their trip between midnight and 2:30 a.m. However, when he went back to look for him he was unable to locate him. It's been really hard to get good information on just what happened.”

According to Michael Creel, the father of the victim, the 13-hour period leading up to Creel's death — and then the hours following his disappearance — have family members baffled as to what really happened.

“After Michael was believed to have fallen out of the truck, the kids — Pierson and his friends — came to mine and my son's house,” said Creel. “They never said a word about Michael being missing or anything. They told us they had dropped him off at his grandmother's, and he had said it was alright for them to stay at our house that night. They stayed up playing video games and doing all the things kids do, but they never once said anything about Michael disappearing or them looking for him.”

Creel said a phone call earlier in the evening also left family members unsettled.

“One of my children took a call from Michael that night,” said Creel. “It was supposedly Michael telling them it was OK for Pierson and the others to stay at the house. But my child told me later the call was strange, and he really didn't think it was Michael. The whole thing just seems strange to me.”

According to Wilkerson, who presented the case — along with testimony from witnesses — to the grand jury seeking an indictment for intoxication manslaughter or manslaughter, there just wasn't sufficient evidence to sway the grand jury to true-bill the case.

“The witnesses were very consistent in what they testified to,” said Wilkerson. “However, the grand jury didn't feel like there was sufficient evidence to prove Pierson contributed to Creel's death. There's just no way to know if Pierson was driving erratically and that's what caused Creel to be thrown from the vehicle, or if he simply fell out or was thrown out accidentally. Once the grand jury failed to true-bill the case, I turned it over to the county attorney.”

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it