A mother of six has died in Missouri after being involved in a car crash while on duty as a police officer.
On Saturday, Aug. 31, at around 1:18 a.m. local time, Osage Beach police officer Phylicia Carson, 33, witnessed a vehicle traveling at high speed on U.S. 54 near Passover Road in Camden County, police Chief Todd Davis said in a press conference that morning.
“The officer activated its emergency equipment and initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle,” Davis said, adding that the vehicle “failed to stop and accelerated,” so the officer pursued the car.
The pursuit continued before Carson’s vehicle struck a tree after skidding off the roadway at approximately 1:34 a.m., a Missouri State Highway Patrol report stated. Her car caught fire, and she was pronounced dead at the scene, the report added.
“Officer Carson perished in the crash,” an emotional Davis said during Saturday’s press conference, confirming she’d been with the department since June 2023.
The late officer is survived by her husband and her six children, Davis said. “Please keep the Carson family, our Department, and our community in your thoughts and prayers as we work through this tragic event,” he continued.
The vehicle that was being pursued crashed at around 1:42 a.m., Davis said. He also stated that Carson’s death was the first line-of-duty loss he was aware of in the 30 years he’d been with the department.
Camden County Prosecuting Attorney Richelle Grosvenor called the incident “an unspeakable tragedy” during the press conference.
Christopher Aaron Bishop Wehmeyer, 23, is being held in jail without bond, per Camden County Sheriff’s Office online records. He wasn’t named in the press conference.
The Osage Beach Police Department didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol led the tributes to Carson on X (formerly known as Twitter), writing, “On behalf of Colonel Eric T. Olson and the entire Missouri State Highway Patrol, we extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Osage Beach Police Officer Phylicia Carson, who lost her life in the line of duty this morning.”
“We also extend condolences to Chief Todd Davis and the men and women who she served alongside at the Osage Beach Police Department,” the post added.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson also shared on X on Saturday, “This morning, Osage Beach Police Officer Phylicia Carson died in the line of duty. [My wife] Teresa and I lift up her family and the Osage Beach community in our prayers,” adding, “Officer Carson will not be forgotten.
The tragedy comes days after Missouri passed the new Valentine’s Law, which “creates the offense of aggravated fleeing a stop or detention of a motor vehicle if the person knows that a law enforcement officer is attempting to detain the vehicle and the person flees at a high speed which creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury or death or actually causes physical injury or death to another person,” per the state’s senate website.
