Cayce police have made an arrest in the February traffic accident that doctors said contributed to the death of USC photography professor Toby Morriss.

William Craig Caughman of West Columbia is charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death as well as obstruction of justice for the wreck. At his May 18 bond hearing, the court set a million dollar bail, said Lt. Jeff Simmons from the Cayce Police Department.

Simmons said it appears Caughman turned off Knox Abbott Drive around 10 p.m. on February 21 and hit Morriss’s motorcycle while Morriss was waiting on Ninth Street for the light to change.

Morriss died February 28 from the February 21 hit–and–run motorcycle accident in Cayce. He was 36. He was riding his motorcycle when a driver ran him over and left him for dead at Knox Abbot Blvd. and Ninth Street. Another driver saw Morriss’s still form lying in the street and called an ambulance. Hospital staff, family, and friends all thought he was recovering until he died suddenly in the hospital halls while on his way to physical therapy.

Doctors said the injuries Morriss suffered during the accident claimed his life that day when he died almost instantly at Lexington County Medical Center. A close friend, Jenny Prather was with him.

“He was going for a walk down the hall that was part of his physical therapy,” Prather told the

Star earlier this year in a previous story about Morriss. “He suddenly told me he felt light headed and just fell. I cradled his head, and he just kept calling my name until he couldn’t. Then he was gone.”

Reports said that due to an anonymous Crime Stopper’s tip, police found Caughman’s vehicle, a green 2000 Ford Ranger pickup, hidden behind a shed belonging to his father, Robert Wayne Caughman, who lives next door to his son on Gunter Circle, a cul–de–sac behind Highway 378 in West Columbia.

Officers said the vehicles’ passenger doors had been clumsily removed, and they believed it was done in haste prior to hiding the truck behind the shed. The investigation is still ongoing, and there is the possibility of future arrests for individuals who assisted William Caughman either in evading arrest or hiding his vehicle after the incident, police said.

A neighbor of the Caughman’s who asked not to be identified said the entire situation was tragic for everyone involved.

“I know the Caughmans,” the woman said. “They are really good people, and while there is no excuse for the son leaving that man in the street, I know they raised him better than that and are probably devastated to find out what he did. His poor mother must be as heartbroken as Toby’s parents. In a different way, they have lost a son too.”

Morriss’s parents said they were relieved the police have charged a man for being responsible for their son’s death, but it brought little solace for his loss.

“I feel good that the person is being held accountable,” Andrea Morriss, Toby’s mother, said in a phone interview. “But we still don’t have Toby with us, and even justice will not bring him back.”

Simmons said the Cayce Police still want to talk to anyone who might have been at the scene that night or who may know something more about the accident.

“We know other people were involved in hiding the car, and we have good evidence the doors that were cut off are still around, and we are looking for them. If anyone helped him hide his vehicle and kept this information to themselves, we will find out,” Simmons said. “It would be far better for them to come to us voluntarily than if we have to go to them with a search warrant.”

Simmons said he was proud of the investigative team from his department, SLED and the highway patrol.

“We all worked together, and when we got the tip from Crime Stoppers, we followed up on it, and all the evidence led to Mr. Caughman's arrest.”

To contact police with information about the accident, call (803) 794- 0456.