BURLINGTON — A preliminary hearing is scheduled Tuesday for a man accused in the death of a 21-year-old Coffeyville woman, Ashley Dawn Rolls.
The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in Coffey County District Court.
Coffey County Attorney Doug Witteman filed charges May 22 against Eldon Wayne Riley of Garnett for his alleged role in a two-vehicle accident that happened shortly after midnight on Dec. 31, between BETO Junction and New Strawn on U.S. Highway 75 in Coffey County.
The four-count complaint accuses Riley of two felonies — involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence and reckless aggravated battery — and a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and a traffic infraction, failure to yield at stop or yield signs.
Witteman’s complaint states that Riley “did unintentionally kill Ashley D. Rolls, while sustaining an alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath/100 milliliters of blood at the time of operating the vehicle or within two hours thereafter.” The complaint also accuses Riley of “feloniously and recklessly cause great bodily harm or disfigurement to Lindsay A. Shaw.”
Shaw, 23, was driving a vehicle on Highway 75 when Riley apparently failed to stop his eastbound truck at a stop sign on County Road 22. The truck crashed into the passenger side of Shaw’s car, breaking Rolls’ seat belt and causing her to be ejected from the vehicle, according to a report from Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Jeff Norling.
Shaw, who is from Manhattan, was taken to the Coffey County Hospital and later transferred to a Topeka hospital. Riley and a passenger in his truck, Teresa L. Gretencord, 46, of Gardner were taken to Coffey County Hospital for treatment after the accident.
Witteman said in mid-April that a coroner’s delay in completing an autopsy report had subsequently delayed a decision in filing a case against Riley. The autopsy report is an essential factor in cases involving deaths, he said.