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Two Milligan University Cyclists Killed in a Horror Homicide That Shattered a Team

What should have been a quiet morning training ride turned into a scene of unimaginable terror in northeastern Tennessee, where a car plowed into a tightly-formed group of Milligan University cyclists — killing two young athletes and injuring seven more in what authorities are calling a reckless vehicular homicide.

Milligan University, a small Christian school of just over 1,200 students, confirmed that 11 teammates were riding together near Hampton, only 11 miles from campus, when their training session was obliterated by a driver who tore through the peloton with catastrophic force.

District Attorney Steve Finney said John Benfield, 69, of North Carolina, has been arrested and charged with two counts of reckless vehicular homicide and five counts of aggravated assault by vehicle — charges that underscore the brutality of the impact.

University President Stephen Waers delivered the devastating news, Haylan Engdahl, 18, of Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, and Brayden Rogers, of Huntsville, Alabama, were killed in the collision — two promising sophomores whose futures were violently cut short on a rural Tennessee road.

The aftermath was chaos and carnage. Cyclists lay scattered across the asphalt. At least one rider was airlifted from the scene. Ballad Health confirmed seven victims were rushed to Johnson City Medical Center, where doctors fought to stabilise the critically injured.

By Wednesday evening, four students clung to life in critical condition, two remained hospitalised, and one had been discharged. Trauma director Dr. Bracken Burns described the situation as dire.

This was not a casual group ride. Finney emphasised the team’s elite status, “It’s not a bunch of club guys getting together to ride. They know what they’re doing. They rode in a peloton.”

Earlier this year, Milligan’s men’s cycling team had celebrated a national championship title — a triumph now overshadowed by grief.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol continues to investigate the crash on Highway 19, where the speed limit is 50 mph — a detail that only deepens the horror of the impact.

The Victims

Haylan Engdahl, an exercise science major and rising road racer, had already claimed an overall win at the Carter County Omnium and podiumed at the Tour of America’s Dairyland. He was building a career that promised greatness.

Brayden Rogers, a nursing student from Alabama, discovered cycling at age 11 and raced across mountain, road, and gravel disciplines. His achievements included a top-20 finish at UNBOUND Gravel and a 17th-place result at the Big Sugar 50-mile event — extraordinary feats for a young rider.

And an entire university community left reeling from a tragedy that unfolded on a quiet Tennessee road — a ride that should have been routine, but became a homicide that tore through a team and stole two young men with bright futures ahead of them.

Two Milligan University Cyclists Killed in a Horror Homicide That Shattered a Team