Collinsville man sentenced to a decade behind bars after fatal crash

MADISON COUNTY (KMOV) -- A Collinsville man convicted of hitting and killing someone on U.S. Highway 40 in Highland in 2018 while driving under the influence of cannabis has been sentenced to prison.

In June, a Madison County jury found 41-year-old Wayne A. Stayton guilty of two counts of aggravated DUI causing death. Charlene Johnson, 45, was driving on the highway when Stayton’s pickup truck crossed the center line and hit her.

Stayton was high on cannabis when the crash happened around 4 a.m. on Feb. 23, 2018, prosecutors said. Stayton had two previous DUI arrests in 2000 and 2002. A press release after the verdict said the defense argued Stayton suffered a mental illness and had a manic episode at the time of the crash.

On Sept. 18, it was announced that Stayton had been sentenced to 10 years in prison.