The crash was a particularly violent one, with the BMW M4 said to have hit 100mph shortly before it flipped over and burst into flames.
Passenger Tessa Walker didn’t stand a chance.
Walker, a promising 18-year-old high school senior, was pronounced dead at the scene of the March 22 accident in Platte City, Missouri.
The car’s 18-year-old driver Om Patel and three other passengers were injured but survived.
Patel was booked into jail shortly afterwards but later released, with the Platte County Sheriff’s Office continuing to investigate. No charges have been filed.
Investigators say alcohol and speed were ‘likely’ factors in the crash, which happened after Patel and his friends left a boozy 18th birthday party at 4am.
Indeed, questions are now mounting over why Om’s millionaire parents Amarkumar and Heena Patel decided to buy their schoolboy son such a wildly powerful car.
Om received the brand new M4 on his 16th birthday in March 2024, title records show. The $93,695 car has 503 horsepower and is capable of reaching 191mph, with the ‘M’ in its name standing for ‘Motorsport.’
Tessa Walker, 18, died on March 22 after the BMW M4 she was riding in crashed and erupted into flames along a rural Missouri road
Om Patel, in his booking photo on March 22, was released from jail without charges
The powerful BMW M4 was registered to Om Patel on his 16th birthday after being purchased six months prior for $93,695, vehicle records show
A base model Honda Civic – the type of car more likely to be driven by a newly-qualified teen – generates just 150 horsepower.
Last March, one of Om’s friends shared a photo on Instagram of him posing in front of the menacing-looking, gunmetal gray BMW in a damp parking lot at night.
Motoring experts warn that cars like the M4 should only be handled by highly-experienced drivers, making it a particularly worrying choice for a teenager with little time spent behind the wheel.
Disturbingly, the Daily Mail has discovered that Om was known to law enforcement for driving too fast prior to the accident that killed Walker.
He was issued a ticket for speeding by over 20 to 25mph and pled guilty in court in June 2025, less than a year before the smash that took his friend’s life.
Om was further cited for an undisclosed moving violation in August 2025. The outcome of that case was not made publicly available.
Driving too fast seemingly runs in the family, with father Amarkumar Patel – a successful contractor and hotelier – cited for speeding in 2019 and 2020.
He pled guilty in both cases.
Om Patel with his dark gray 2024 BMW M4 – a wildly powerful coupe with 503 horsepower and that can hit speeds of 191mph – in March 2025
Om, Heena, Rudra and Amarkumar Patel (left to right) attend Rudra’s high school graduation ceremony in May 2024
Amarkumar and Heena Patel own a gorgeous $1.3 million home in the Kansas City suburb of Riverside, Missouri, where they live with their two sons Rudra and Om
A makeshift memorial and wooden cross honoring high school volleyball player Tessa Walker has been placed at the scene of the deadly crash
Om Patel’s high school classmate Tessa Walker was riding in the car at the time of the crash
Nyadit Akoi, seen with Tessa Walker in November last year, was one of the passengers in Om Patel’s car. She survived the crash
Om’s older brother Rudra was also cited for engaging in a speed competition – otherwise known as street racing – in August 2025 and admitted the offense.
He was gifted a powerful black Mercedes sedan for his 16th birthday and posed for a photo with the gleaming car on social media while it was wrapped in a giant red bow.
Om comes from a wealthy family with hardworking parents.
Amarkumar and Heena raised their sons in a beautiful $1.3 million home in Riverside, Missouri, a smart suburb of Kansas City.
They run a contracting firm which earned $521,000 last year, as well as multiple local hotels that brought in $414,000 over the same period, according to records viewed by the Daily Mail.
The couple appear to have passed their impressive work ethic onto their children, with Om working as a crew member at a local frozen custard shop. Rudra runs his own buy-and-hold real estate investing company.
Amarkumar, Heena and their sons clearly enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Besides the showplace home and expensive cars, the family have enjoyed trips to exotic destinations including Hawaii and the Caribbean.
Heena and Amarkumar Patel gifted their son Rudra, pictured, a brand new Mercedes in March 2022 to mark his 16th birthday
Om Patel, 18, was driving 100mph when he lost control of his BMW M4 and crashed, police said. The collision was so violent that the car flipped over several times, before coming to a stop on the shoulder of state highway 45 and bursting into flames
Heena and Amarkumar Patel at a relative’s wedding in May 2022. The couple earns around $935,000-a-year running three hotels in the greater Kansas City area, business records show
Tessa Walker, 18, was killed just after 4am on March 22 when Om Patel crashed his BMW M4 along a state highway in rural Missouri
Om Patel’s 2024 M4, as seen on his brother Rudra’s Instagram in December 2023.The ‘M’ in the car’s name stands for ‘Motorsport’
Heena is a very proud mother, commemorating her two boys’ birthdays with heartfelt posts calling each child her ‘lovely handsome son.’
Sharing the photo of Rudra posing with the top-of-the-line Mercedes he was given for his 16th birthday, Heena wrote: ‘We are bless (sic) by god as a gift our dear son.’
‘Happy Birthday Rudra we love you so much god bless you be always happy in journey of life.’
Sadly, there will be no such ‘happy journey of life’ for Tessa Walker.
Across town, her father Drew, a single-dad-of-five, is struggling to come to terms with the loss of his beloved daughter.
Just six years ago, Drew lost his life partner Amanda, who was mother to his children. She was only 34.
‘For a girl to endure so much and then leave just as she was to be let loose into the world is a cruel and confusing thing. Rip Tessa bear,’ he wrote on Facebook.
Now Drew, who works as a tattooist, must grapple with the avoidable tragedy that killed his daughter.
Om Patel at a car dealership in Beverly Hills, California in January 2025. Court records show that Patel has a history of traffic violations, including a getting a speeding ticket last year
Tessa Walker, a senior at Park Hill High School, was planning to attend Northwest Missouri State University in the fall
Tessa Walker leaves behind her father and four siblings. Her mother preceded her in death
He was too upset to speak to the Daily Mail.
Walker, straight-A student and competitive high school athlete, was expected to graduate next month.
She planned to attend Northwest Missouri State University in the fall after being awarded several academic scholarships.
A caring and thoughtful teenager, Walker enjoyed writing and art.
She volunteered with the Midwest Innocence Project, which seeks to help wrongly-incarcerated prisoners.
Platte County Sheriff’s Office say they plan to turn their investigation findings over to the county prosecutor for consideration of criminal charges.
Patel could be charged with involuntary manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and armed criminal action, criminologist and Arkansas State University Professor Angelo Kevin Brown said.
Because Patel is under the age of 21, he could also be hit with a minor in possession of alcohol, the expert added.
If convicted, Patel could face up to 15 years in prison and lose his license.
Patel and his parents did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for a comment.
