A Leitchfield man has been indicted on a manslaughter charge after a fatal vehicle accident in Butler County.
On Wednesday morning, February 9, Kentucky State Police responded to the two-vehicle fatality accident in the 4000 block of Reedyville Road (Hwy 185). State police said the investigation showed that 36-year-old Dustin W. Fields, of Leitchfield, was driving a 2017 Chevrolet pickup truck south while 63-year-old Timothy R. Phelps, of Bowling Green, was traveling north in a 2006 Scion SUV.
The two vehicles collided head-on “near the center dividing line of the roadway,” according to Kentucky State Police accident investigators.
Phelps was pronounced dead at the scene. Fields was not injured.
Earlier this month, a Butler County Grand Jury indicted Fields on a second-degree manslaughter charge, a class C felony punishable by five to 10 years in prison. The indictment carries with it a $50,000 cash bond.
Fields is not currently listed as an inmate in either Butler or Grayson County.
According to Kentucky Revised Statutes, a person is guilty of manslaughter in the second degree when he wantonly causes the death of another person, including but not limited to situations where the death results from the person’s: (a) Operation of a motor vehicle;(b) Leaving a child under the age of eight years in a motor vehicle under circumstances which manifest an extreme indifference to human life and which create a grave risk of death to the child, thereby causing the death of the child; or(c) Unlawful distribution for remuneration of a Schedule I or II controlled substance when the controlled substance is the proximate cause of death.
(Dustin W. Fields mugshot from a 2021 arrest in Logan Co.)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
