SPRINGFIELD (AP) – A southwest Missouri man has been charged in a deadly crash after confessing to talking on his cell phones just before it happened.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that 23-year-old Ethan Ellis, of Bolivar, is charged in Greene County with second-degree involuntary manslaughter in the June 12 crash that killed Robert Jones. No attorney is listed for Ellis in online court records.

The probable cause statement says Ellis told a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper that he was talking on his cellphone moments before the crash. Ellis said he ended the call, then looked up and saw the other vehicle. Ellis said he tried to swerve but still hit the back of the Jones’ vehicle with his pickup truck on Missouri 13.

Witnesses also reported that Ellis was speeding.