Driver pleads guilty in fatal crash
Saturday, August 11, 2007
BURLINGTON — Eldon Wayne Riley of Garnett has pleaded guilty to two charges relating to a fatal vehicle accident shortly after midnight on Dec. 31 north of New Strawn. Riley made his plea July 25 before Judge Phillip M Fromme in Coffey County District Court.
Riley pleaded guilty to two felonies, involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence and reckless aggravated battery. A misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and a traffic infraction, failure to yield at stop or yield signs, were dismissed, according to Coffey County Attorney Doug Witteman.
The charges stemmed from a two-vehicle accident at an intersection of a county road and Kansas Highway 75, between BETO Junction and New Strawn. Riley apparently failed to stop his eastbound truck at a stop sign on County Road 22. The truck struck a passenger car driving south on the highway.
Ashley D. Rolls, 21, of Coffeyville died in the accident. The driver of the car, Lindsay A. Shaw, 23, of Manhattan, was seriously injured.
The truck struck the passenger side of Shaw’s car, breaking Rolls’ seat belt and throwing her from the vehicle, according to a report from Kansas Highway Patrol Technical Trooper Jeff Norling.
Riley and a passenger in his truck, Teresa L. Gretencord, 46, of Gardner were taken to Coffey County Hospital for treatment after the accident.
Riley will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 13.