A Monticello, Minnesota pastor and his 3-year-old son were killed on Interstate 90 near Kimball, South Dakota, after a wheel detached from a westbound stock trailer, crossed the median, and tore through the roof of their eastbound minivan. Stephen Fletcher Clayton, 31, and his son David Joshua Clayton died in the crash, while Clayton's wife, 24-year-old Katie Jayne Clayton, survived with serious injuries despite being 28 weeks pregnant.
The collision happened around 2:02 p.m. on October 12 near mile marker 292, roughly eight miles east of Kimball in Brule County, according to 5 Eyewitness News. The Clayton family's Honda Odyssey was traveling eastbound when the loose wheel crossed the median and struck the vehicle's windshield and roof. The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has identified the driver of the westbound 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 pulling the trailer as 54-year-old Travis Richard Faulhaber of Plankinton, South Dakota, who was uninjured in the crash, according to South Dakota State News.
Katie Clayton was airlifted to Sioux Falls, about 120 miles east of the crash site, for emergency trauma care. The station's report notes she underwent reconstructive surgery for jaw and face fractures. An 11-month-old baby traveling with the family also suffered minor injuries in the crash, per the same account, while Katie's unborn child was reported unharmed.
A Family Returning From a Visit to Spearfish
The Claytons were headed home to Monticello after visiting Katie's parents in Spearfish, South Dakota, the western Black Hills town where the couple married in July 2022, according to Bring Me The News. The outlet notes that Clayton had deep ties to both Minnesota and South Dakota, having built a life that stretched from a concert stage to a pulpit before his family's trip home turned tragic.
Before entering ministry, Clayton was a classical musician who served as principal bass trombonist for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra during the 2017-2018 season, after earning a Bachelor of Music Performance from Columbus State University, according to Patriot News MN. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity from Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis. He began preaching at Becker Evangelical Free Church in May 2023 through a student pulpit supply program and was formally installed as the church's preaching pastor in September 2024.
Funeral Set at Mounds View Church Tied to His Seminary Years
Funeral services for Stephen and David Clayton are scheduled for Friday, October 23, at The North Church in Mounds View, Minnesota, where Clayton previously served as a ministry assistant for three years while attending seminary, according to information from Bethlehem College and Seminary. Steven Lee, the church's pastor for preaching, who also officiated the Claytons' 2022 wedding, is expected to lead the service. 5 Eyewitness News reported it was awaiting verification of the funeral arrangements at the time of its report.
The child killed in the crash, David Joshua Clayton, was born in August 2023, according to his obituary posted by Kinkade Funeral Chapel. A GoFundMe campaign organized to help Katie Clayton with funeral costs and medical expenses raised more than $240,000 within a week of the crash, Bring Me The News reported, with funds designated to cover her reconstructive surgeries and ongoing recovery.
Investigation Into Wheel Separation Remains Open
The South Dakota Highway Patrol confirmed that all four occupants of the Honda Odyssey and the driver of the pickup truck were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, according to People. Preliminary releases from the state patrol did not cite traffic violations or criminal charges, and the investigation into why the trailer wheel separated remains open.
Legal and safety analysts who study commercial trailer wheel separations say detached wheels on high-speed highways are typically caused by mechanical failures such as improperly torqued lug nuts, sheared wheel studs, or worn wheel bearings, according to Pritzker Hageman, P.A. Investigators have not yet released the exact mechanical cause of the wheel separation in this case.
