Investigators say video, cellphone records, messages and damage to a pickup truck tied Ryan Thompson to the deadly July collision.

SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — What first drew emergency crews to a badly damaged motorcycle on a Westmoreland County road became, according to Pennsylvania State Police, a homicide investigation built from surveillance video, cellphone records, private messages and a pickup truck found with fresh front-end damage. Police have accused Ryan Thompson, 47, of deliberately striking 53-year-old Roy Holliday from behind on July 16 as Holliday rode his motorcycle along Lowber Road.

Thompson faces criminal homicide, homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle, recklessly endangering another person and reckless driving charges, according to police and published accounts of the criminal complaint. The charges remain allegations, and they do not establish Thompson’s guilt. Investigators say the case developed after they reconstructed the movements of the two men before the collision and examined communications involving Holliday, Thompson and Thompson’s ex-wife, Melissa Thompson, who was Holliday’s girlfriend.

The physical evidence described by police begins on Lowber Road. Investigators obtained surveillance footage that authorities say showed a pickup truck traveling closely behind Holliday’s motorcycle before the truck moved nearer and struck the motorcycle from behind. First responders found Holliday and the heavily damaged motorcycle in the roadway. He was taken to a hospital and later died. Public accounts differ on the precise date of his death, so authorities’ central timeline is clearest on one point: the collision occurred July 16 and ultimately proved fatal.

Police then worked to identify the pickup. Melissa Thompson told investigators that the truck was registered to her but was being kept at the home where her former husband lived, according to court records described by local news organizations. When investigators went to Ryan Thompson’s residence, they said they found the pickup there. Police reported seeing fresh damage on its front bumper. Thompson also told investigators that he was the only person with access to the truck, according to the court documents.

The truck was only one part of the reconstruction. Investigators also examined cellphone information that, according to police, placed Ryan Thompson and Holliday in the area of the crash at the relevant time. That information gave authorities another way to compare the movements of the two men with what appeared on the surveillance recording. Police have not publicly released a full technical account of the cellphone analysis, and the available reports do not describe the precision of the location data. Authorities nevertheless cited it as part of the evidence connecting Thompson to the collision.

Investigators also obtained communications between the men. Police said Thompson and Holliday had engaged in what court records called a “heated text exchange” over Facebook Messenger. The dispute developed after Thompson contacted his ex-wife about bills, according to her account to investigators. Holliday saw or learned of the communication and became upset, she told police. Reports based on the complaint say Thompson later sent Holliday a message indicating he was at Melissa Thompson’s home with her. Holliday then left on his motorcycle, according to the police account.

Melissa Thompson provided investigators with another part of the timeline. She said her former husband contacted her after Holliday had left and asked her to care for their son and dog. According to published accounts of the complaint, Ryan Thompson apologized, said he loved her and told her in substance that she would not be seeing him again. Those alleged calls took on added significance for investigators after the fatal collision because police were attempting to establish Thompson’s actions and state of mind around the time Holliday was struck.

Police also questioned Thompson about what had happened before the collision. According to court records cited by local outlets, Thompson told investigators that he believed he heard Holliday revving his motorcycle near Thompson’s residence. Thompson said he went after him, according to those reports. When investigators began asking Thompson specifically about the collision that injured Holliday, Thompson asked for a lawyer. Invoking the right to counsel is a constitutional protection and is not evidence of guilt.

State police have publicly characterized the impact as intentional rather than an ordinary traffic collision. Trooper Steve Limani told WPXI that investigators believed the case was different from a typical crash because authorities concluded the contact between the vehicles was deliberate. That conclusion will ultimately have to be tested through the criminal process. The publicly available reports do not include a defense account of the collision or identify evidence offered by Thompson disputing the prosecution’s theory.

The range of charges reflects both Pennsylvania’s general homicide law and provisions dealing specifically with vehicles. State law defines criminal homicide broadly as causing the death of another person intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently, with the eventual classification depending on the facts and legal findings. Pennsylvania’s homicide-by-vehicle statute separately covers deaths caused recklessly or with gross negligence while a person is violating a law or ordinance governing vehicle operation or traffic. The filing of both kinds of charges does not mean any count has been proven.

The aggravated-assault-by-vehicle charge similarly addresses serious bodily injury caused recklessly or with gross negligence during a traffic-law violation. Because Holliday later died, prosecutors also filed the homicide-related counts reported by police. Authorities have additionally accused Thompson of reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person. The available reports do not establish which homicide classification prosecutors may ultimately pursue at later stages of the case, and a criminal homicide charge by itself is broader than a final conviction for a particular degree of murder or manslaughter.

While investigators focused on electronic and physical evidence, people who knew Holliday described the personal loss behind the case. Danielle Curran, who told CBS Pittsburgh that she had known Holliday since middle school, remembered him as a devoted father and someone who was well liked by those around him. She said he had introduced her to the man who later became her husband. Her comments offered a picture of Holliday beyond the police complaint and the damaged motorcycle at the center of the investigation.

Melissa Thompson’s sister, Kaelin Henderson, also spoke publicly after Holliday’s death. She said Holliday’s family and her own relatives were heartbroken and described Holliday as a good person and friend. A celebration of Holliday’s life was scheduled for July 22, according to WPXI. Those family statements came as the criminal case began moving through the courts, where the prosecution will be required to support its allegations with admissible evidence and Thompson will have the opportunity to challenge the government’s case.

Thompson was being held in the Westmoreland County Jail without bail and that a preliminary hearing had been scheduled for July 27. A later disposition of that hearing was not identified in the reliable sources reviewed for this report. The core allegations therefore remain those laid out by state police and in accounts of the criminal complaint: that a dispute involving private messages was followed by Holliday leaving on his motorcycle and Thompson following him before the fatal impact on Lowber Road.

Author note: Last updated August 24, 2026.