14-year-old fatally injured after youth pastor let him and multiple kids hang onto the outside of a moving van

An Ohio antheral who utilized to service arsenic a unpaid pastor has been convicted successful the decease of a teen who went to his church.

Rushon Patterson II, 27, was found guilty connected Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter and allowing a kid to thrust extracurricular of a vehicle. The charges were successful transportation with the decease of 14-year-old Malachi Nichols-Williams, who died successful September 2025 from injuries helium sustained aft helium fell disconnected a van being driven by Patterson. Patterson was recovered not blameworthy of reckless homicide.

Malachi's mother, Pamela Nichols, told section Canton, Ohio-based paper The Repository shortly aft her son's death that Patterson "was a dad" to Malachi and her different children. Nichols told the insubstantial that she felt Patterson was not a atrocious person, but that helium made a atrocious decision.

As Law&Crime antecedently reported, Patterson was a unpaid younker pastor astatine the Alive Now Kidz Church, based successful Canton Township, astatine the clip of the incident. On the day of Sept. 6, 2025, Patterson was driving a religion van astir a vicinity and fto Malachi and a fewer different teenagers clasp onto the broadside of the van portion helium drove it. Police said astir of the teens jumped disconnected the van erstwhile they spotted a pothole successful the road.

Malachi did not spot the pothole, and erstwhile Patterson drove implicit it, the teen was thrown disconnected the van and deed his caput connected the pavement. He sustained a skull fracture and a terrible encephalon injury. Nichols told The Repository that Malachi initially tried to basal up aft falling disconnected the van. A pediatric neurosurgeon testified during the proceedings that aesculapian unit thought helium mightiness recover.

The teen spent three days connected beingness support earlier Nichols made the achy determination to fto him go. Malachi died connected Sept. 9, 2025. She decided to donate her son's organs, telling section CBS affiliate WEWS, "I cognize he's not gone, truthful if helium tin assistance idiosyncratic other to live, I would emotion that."

More from Law&Crime: Child fatally injured aft younker pastor fto him and aggregate kids bent onto the extracurricular of a moving van: Police

Patterson was initially charged with vehicular homicide earlier the complaint was changed to reckless homicide. Nichols told WEWS astatine the time, "I deliberation that's excessively terrible of a charge, the homicide portion of it. I don't hold with that."

Patterson is scheduled to beryllium sentenced connected May 12.