An Arkansas man has pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident charges stemming from two separate crashes on the same day last year, one of which left a motorcyclist dead.
Cortez Deshawn Gatlin, 25, of Arkadelphia had a blood alcohol level of 0.212 percent, nearly three times the legal limit, at the time of the crashes, according to test results from the state Crime Laboratory.
The first wreck occurred shortly before 1:30 a.m. Aug. 29, 2015, involving a vehicle, later identified as a white Ford Crown Victoria, and a Honda motorcycle on King Expressway in Hot Springs, the Sentinel-Record reported.
Witnesses told authorities that a westbound vehicle driving in an eastbound lane with one headlight struck the motorcycle in a head-on collision.
The motorcyclist, 34-year-old Debois "Tremayne" Hale, was killed, the newspaper reported.
A second crash was reported by another responding officer at Sixth and Hobson streets in Hot Springs and occurred just before the fatal wreck on King Expressway.
That wreck involving a pickup and a vehicle that matched the vehicle used in the earlier accident left the pickup's driver with injuries to her neck, shoulders, back and hips, according to the Sentinel-Record.
Gatlin, on parole for a previous felony conviction, faces up to 20 years in prison on the negligent homicide charge and up to six years for leaving the scene. He has a sentencing hearing set for Dec. 20.
