Arkansas man gets 20 years for robbery of elderly man, wreck that killed sister

A 27-year-old Pine Bluff man was sentenced to 20 years in prison this week for killing his sister in a car crash after they robbed an elderly Hensley man in June 2014.

Reddie Robert Stanley pleaded guilty to manslaughter, residential burglary and robbery on Tuesday in Pulaski County Circuit Court in exchange for the sentence.

Cloie Joles, 36, was killed after the pickup she, her brother and a second man were in failed to negotiate a rain-wet right curve on West Hensley Road. The truck left the roadway and struck a tree about 1.2 miles east of where a 78-year-old man had been robbed in his home by two men and a woman, authorities said.

Pulaski County sheriff's deputies found a severely injured Stanley trapped behind the pickup's steering wheel and a fatally injured Joles in the passenger seat. Investigators believe the truck was traveling between 80 and 87 mph.

Witnesses saw a second man get out of the vehicle and walk away. That man, Elijah Cooley, 33, of Pine Bluff, pleaded guilty to residential burglary in January 2015 in exchange for five years on probation.

Authorities said Stanley and Joles were believed to be the pair who had knocked on the door of Havus Spann's residence, claiming their vehicle had overheated outside. Spann let them into his home, got a container of water and took it outside.

But once he got to the vehicle and saw a second man inside, Spann became suspicious and went back into his house. The first man and woman followed him inside where the man accosted Spann, according to deputies.

The two men grappled, and the second man from the pickup grabbed Spann and threw him to the ground.

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The two robbers and the woman fled with Spann's cellphone and wallet. Spann did not know the trio. Deputies said his wallet and phone were found in the wrecked pickup.

Metro on 09/16/2017

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