Kevin Windham's Mechanic Commits Suicide

[cazzy160344]

Hey..I just read this on the Racerx site. (http://www.racerxill.com/main.cfm) this is really sad:(

December 22, 2004

Tragedy in Morgantown

Racer X has learned that Jonathan William Hyland, 32, the mechanic for Kevin Windham on the Factory Connection Honda team, committed suicide yesterday just above Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, after being pulled over by police. Police say Hyland, from Anaheim, California, shot his wife and a man in front of the woman's car about 20 minutes earlier near West Virginia University's administrative building in Morgantown, West Virginia.


Hyland had met Valerie Reed when he was in town for the High Point National a couple years earlier. They were married this summer during a break in the outdoor nationals, and she moved to Anaheim with him. But she and her three children moved back to Morgantown.


According to PiitsburghLive.com: "The shooting occurred shortly before 9 a.m. in a parking lot between a West Virginia University administration building and the Radisson Hotel Complex along the Monongahela River. The woman's companion was shot as he walked toward her vehicle and the woman was shot as she tried to drive away. A child in the vehicle was not injured.


"A short time later, state police in Greene County spotted Hyland's sport utility vehicle traveling north along Interstate 79 near the Kirby exit, 18 miles north of Morgantown, and stopped it at the Waynesburg exit.


"The officers heard a single gunshot as they approached the vehicle and found Hyland dead inside."


Both the woman and the man shot in Morgantown are expected to recover.

[scobes]

Jezz............

[Robbo66]

Damn! This is so sad!

This will really effect Kevin! Rider's and there Mechanics are soo close.

RIP:(

[hutchie]

yeah that's so sad to hear about....there was obviously something seriously wrong

RIP

[motox_queen]

maybe he thought that his wife was cheating on him with that other guy that he shot, but i think it was stupid shooting them in front of a kid, thats just wrong!

[BeRt_250f]

R.I.P and i hope kev floges ass next year

[METAL_MULISHA13]

Damn, not very nice to hear. Just what Robbo said, riders and mechanics are so close! :(

RIP Jonathan :(

[kyle]

I am guessing his wife left him for this man, thats why she moved back east.

But it is still pretty damn full on.

[soul_MX]

yeah wow, that was sudden

[I_Bleed_blue]

damn!.....thats all i can say.....

[cam-1]

My sympaty goes out to all of the mans family, the team and Kevin Windham.
This man must have a mental illness to go and do that, even if the woman did cheat on him.
This will create such greif to Kevin if he had a rider/mechanic close relationship.

[soul_MX]

was this the mechanic thats been wit kdub since he returned?

[cam-1]

Id say so...
It makes me wonder if Kevin will ride better with this outcome.
Only A1 can answer that one cant wait

[METAL_MULISHA13]

I think he may, he might just let out the anger on the track. And it may affect him while riding, due to the pain he suffers from this :(

[FoXRaCiNG.2]

RIP. i really feel for windham, i know personaly what its like to loose someone close to you so hang in there man, it's gonna be tough . ride hard windham

[I_Bleed_blue]

04 just keeps getting better doesent it....sympathy to his family and friends....stay strong kevin

[punk_bun-e_mich]

thats shocking.. i dont feel sorry for Jonathan cos thats disgusting and suicide is selfish.... sorry folks i have no sympathy for things like that.. the only sympathy i have is for kevin and all of Jonathan's family.. great christmas eh?

[cazzy160344]

hey guys..just got an update (http://racerxill.com/main.cfm#) about Jonathan Hyland. thought u might like to know.

December 23, 2004

More on the Morgantown Tragedy

Police are still piecing together the details of the tragic shooting/suicide of Jonathan Hyland, the mechanic for Kevin Windham, here in Morgantown, West Virginia, which is also the home office of Racer X Illustrated and Racer Productions. According to police reports, on Tuesday morning at 8:57, Hyland, who had flown here from his home in California, pulled a shotgun out of the SUV he was driving and shot Valerie Reed, his estranged wife, and Derek Jackson, who was in her vehicle at the time, in the driveway in front of the Radisson Hotel and the West Virginia University administrations building. Hyland then drove up Interstate 79 into Pennsylvania, but one exit past Mt. Morris (where High Point Raceway in located), Pennsylvania State Police pulled him over. As the officer was walking toward the car, Hyland shot himself in the driver’s seat of the Ford Expedition.

Reed, who was shot in the head, remains in critical condition at Ruby Memorial Hospital. Jackson received a flesh wound and has already been released from the hospital. Reed’s son, who was also in the car when Hyland started shooting, was not injured. According to the Dominion Post, Police have not released the caliber of weapon, pending the outcome of the investigation. They are looking into how Hyland got the gun that he used. The gun was registered, but the police have not said to whom. They also said they found eight shell casings at the scene of the shooting.

Hyland had met Reed while in Morgantown for the nearby High Point National two years ago. They were married this summer, and she moved to Anaheim, California, with him, but then decided to return to Morgantown with her two children.

Police are not sure about Reed’s relationship with Jackson, the man who was shot, but one officer did tell the newspaper that she was trying to contact Jackson on the telephone that morning to “tell the guy to leave her alone.” Herman Reid, a WVU Security Officer, said, “All the woman had to do was call the police and say my husband has been following me.”

Police say that Hyland been in Morgantown for two weeks, but sources with the Factory Connection team say that Hyland had been present for testing just last week at the Honda track. He then flew from California to New York, then drove to Morgantown. Hyland was slated to continue as Windham’s mechanic in 2005; the team has not announced who will replace him.

[*Tats*]

bloody yanks and their street shootings.

[twisties]

Originally posted by I_Bleed_blue
04 just keeps getting better doesent it....sympathy to his family and friends....stay strong kevin

yeah your right, oh well, only a few more days left. hopefuly 05 will be a great year seeing as this one kinda went down the pooper for a lot of people.

RIP bro

[Tam]

Maybe no one is talking about this anymore. Valerie is my cousin. I know her for who she was. She survived, but she certainly didn't recover. She will never live out of the hospital. She was a beautiful, vivacious mother whose life was taken from her. She was pregnant when she was shot. Her baby was okay. Her little boy had to witness it. Thank God he wasn't shot. I feel sorry for everyone involved. I don't know what happened between them. I just wish that he could have gotten help before it got to that point. What a tragedy.

[cozza123]

shit that very sad and in front of a kid he will be scared 4 life