Jan 28, 2013 3 min read

Jerod Green, 37, the Oklahoma man found guilty in December by a Greene County jury in the death of Monongalia County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Michael Todd May, 41, will be sentenced by Judge William Nalitz at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 19.

In Pennsylvania, the standard sentence for third-degree murder ranges from 20 to 40 years in prison, but there is no mandatory minimum sentence required by law.

May’s death was found to be a direct result of his police vehicle being struck by Green’s Silverado pickup truck on Interstate 79 in Perry Township.

Green was found guilty of murder in the third degree, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle in an emergency response area and fleeing or eluding a police officer while DUI and crossing a state line. Green was found not guilty of the first-degree felony of murder of a law enforcement officer and the second-degree felony of manslaughter of a law enforcement officer.

West Virginia sheriff’s deputies pursued Green after he fled from a traffic stop involving a hit-and-run accident that occurred earlier that same evening on Easton Hill Road in Monongalia County, W.Va., where Green’s truck struck a car driven by Skylar Johnson, 19, of Morgantown. When police pulled Green over, he denied hitting Johnson’s vehicle and then admitted he was there but it was not his fault. When an officer reached inside Green’s truck to turn off the ignition, Green hit the gas and pulled off with the officer’s arm inside the window. Police began a pursuit of Green’s truck as it traveled north on Route 100, onto Route 19 north into Pennsylvania and then entered the Interstate 79 on-ramp at Mt. Morris.

It was just south of the on-ramp that Green’s truck collided with May’s marked police vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee. May died as a result of injuries sustained from the impact.

Green previously pleaded guilty to four known DUI charges in Oklahoma and served time in that state for those charges. At the time of the accident that claimed May’s life, Green had a blood-alcohol content of 0.189 percent, more than two times the legal limit in the state of Pennsylvania. Green also was found to have prescription medications in his system.

May was a 10-year veteran of the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, where he led the SWAT team. He also served with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department and the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority. He was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital, Morgantown, W.Va. where he was pronounced dead. He is survived by his parents, Franklin and Catherine May, and his brother, Frank May.

Green is currently being held in the Greene County jail and faces additional charges in Monongalia County, W.Va., including two counts of malicious wounding, one count of fleeing while DUI and one count of fleeing.