A driver involved in a wreck that killed two Hamburg-area residents in April has been charged with two counts of negligent homicide.
In a criminal information sheet filed in 10th Judicial District Court on May 3, Prosecuting Attorney Frank Spain alleged that Edwin Velasquez, 36, of Texas, “negligently caused the death of Dina Kelley as a result of operating a vehicle while intoxicated or with an alcohol concentration of .08 or more.”
The second count in the information sheet is identical except that the named victim is Bobby Kelley.
At the time of the wreck, which happened at 9:53 a.m. April 3 on U.S. 425 near Hamburg, Arkansas State Police reports said that the Kellys were in a 1990 Chevrolet Silverado driving north when Velazquez’s southbound 2014 Chevrolet Traverse crossed the center line and struck their vehicle.
Weather conditions were clear at the time and the roadway was dry.
Both of the Kelleys were pronounced dead at the scene, and Velasquez was injured in the crash.
He was transported to The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
In an affidavit filed with the 10th JDC, an Arkansas State Police trooper who responded to the scene said the Kelley vehicle had “attempted to avoid the collision by driving on the northbound shoulder. Velasquez’s vehicle came to a rest in the northbound traffic lane facing the north. The Kelley vehicle came to a rest in the ditch located on the northbound side of the road.
The affidavit also says that an Ashley County deputy administered a Portable Breath Test to Velasquez and that the test showed a blood alcohol content of .14 percent.
The officer also said that he saw “two empty 12 ounce cans of Budweiser Alcohol Waters and two unopened bottles of Modelo beers that were cool to the touch in the back floorboard.”
Velasquez was first arrested in connection with the crash on April 6. The warrant charging him with negligent homicide was officially served on May 2.
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