Man pleads guilty to negligent homicide

BENTONVILLE — A Lowell man was sentenced to four months in jail and placed on probation for causing a wreck killing a man.

Riley Stanley, 22, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor homicide. He faced up to a year in jail.

Stanley resolved his case Thursday through a plea agreement his attorney, Janette McKinney, reached with Matthew Light, deputy prosecutor.

Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren accepted the plea agreement and Stanley’s guilty plea.

Stanley was placed on one year of probation and sentenced to 120 days in the Benton County

Jail. He was taken from the hearing to the jail to serve his sentence.

Stanley was arrested in connection with the April 7, 2018, car crash that killed Miles D. Walker, 20.

The crash happened at 7:29 a.m. on Arkansas 16 east of Siloam Springs, according to a preliminary report from the Arkansas State Police.

Stanley was driving a 2005 Nissan west when he lost control in a curve. The car crossed the center line, went into eastbound traffic and into a ditch. The passenger side hit a tree and the car and landed on its top, authorities said.

Walker was a passenger in the vehicle.

Light read a statement in court on behalf of Walker’s mother.

“April 7, 2018, that Saturday morning my life along with Miles’ two little brothers’ lives and our family changed in a split second,” Light read. “Life as we knew it was gone.

Every day I struggle with my son not being here, his little brothers struggle as well; and every day it just gets harder and harder.

“The holidays and her son’s birthday are hard,” Light said.

“When Miles passed, a part of me went with him,” Light read. “I cannot put into words what I feel and go through every day.”

Her son lost his chance to live life and to watch his little brothers grow up, Light said.

“The only thing I can say to you is that I hope that you make better choices in your life going forward,” Light read.

Stanley