A 22-year-old Mountain View man faces a negligent homicide charge in connection with the death of a 22-year-old Oklahoma man near Guion in Izard County.
According to court documents Lance Lee Dayton Johnson was arrested for negligent homicide and misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated-second offense and driving on a suspended license due to DWI, with bond set at $25,000.
Cody Killingsworth of Checotaw, Oklahoma, died when he was struck by a 2013 John Deere tractor on State Highway 58 Monday morning.
The probable cause affidavit in the case says Johnson was initially detained by Izard County authorities shortly after the 9:25 a.m. accident, with an Arkansas State Police (ASP) trooper dispatched from Mountain Home to investigate arriving at 11:15. The trooper says when he spoke to Johnson, he could smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming from the vehicle where Johnson was detained and observed his eyes to be blood shot and watery. At that time, Johnson said he had not been drinking.
Johnson allegedly told authorities he knew there was a warrant for his arrest and an ACIC check showed Johnson’s license was suspended due to DWI and he faced a misdemeanor charge out of Dardanelle, but was out of extradition range. After taking a portable breathalyzer test, Johnson allegedly admitted he had been drinking the prior night. After he failed several standardized field sobriety tests and was en route to the Izard County Detention Center, Johnson allegedly said he had quit drinking at 4 a.m.
A breathalyzer test conducted at the detention center reported a BAC level of .08, approximately three hours after the crash. Johnson then provided a urinalysis sample for testing.
Tuesday morning, Johnson was interviewed by an ASP special agent and allegedly reported he began drinking beer at his home in Mountain View and drank at least a 30-pack throughout the night and stopped drinking around 3 a.m. Johnson told authorities he was operating the tractor in the highway when it stalled in the middle of the road.
Johnson says Killingsworth approached the tractor with Johnson still aboard and placed the tractor in gear, when the farm implement began moving and ran over the victim. Johnson allegedly stated, “that he should not probably have not been driving the tractor after drinking all night the night before the incident.”
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