A Horseshoe Bend woman has been sentenced to prison for a crash last year that claimed the life of a man from Salem. Six charges were filed against 55-year-old Kamala Dawn Crone. She received a 15-year sentence in the Arkansas Department of Corrections with 60 months suspended imposition of sentence to follow through a negotiated guilty plea to charges of negligent homicide with a vehicle while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated second offense, driving while her license was suspended for DWI, refusal to submit to a chemical test, driving left of center and not wearing a seatbelt.
Crone is being held in the Fulton County jail awaiting a spot to open up in the state prison system.
The victim in the crash was 45-year-old Robert Trent Zeigler.
According to the probable cause affidavit in the case, a deputy from the Fulton County Sheriffs Office was traveling on State Highway 9 June 17, 2022 when he observed a head-on collision.
As the deputy exited his vehicle, he observed Crone attempting to start her car which was already running and trying to put it into gear. The deputy noted Crone had a strong odor of intoxicants, bloodshot watery eyes, her speech was slurred, and as she exited the vehicle, she had trouble standing.
The crash investigation revealed Crone crossed the center line and struck the other vehicle head on.
Zeigler was a passenger in the vehicle driven by his father, 65-year-old Kelly Zeigler of Salem. The younger Zeigler was pronounced dead at the Fulton County Hospital. The elder Zeigler was treated and released.
Crone refused to take field sobriety and chemical tests at the crash site. A search warrant was obtained a few hours later and a blood sample from Crone was taken and sent to the state crime lab for testing.
Crones drivers license was suspended in 2019 for DWI.
Crone was also convicted of escape for fleeing from deputies in Izard County in 2018 and on a charge of battery in Fulton County in 1997.
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