By Jeff Lehr

jlehr@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — A 21-year-old Joplin man pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter and assault charges in connection with a 2007 traffic accident that took the life of a 19-year-old woman and injured an older couple.

Kaleb N. Miller, 422 S. Monroe Ave., changed his pleas to guilty in Newton County Circuit Court on one count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault in the Joplin crash.

The change of pleas was in accordance with a plea agreement with the Newton County prosecutor’s office that limits the prison sentence that Miller might receive to no more than five years and leaves open the possibility of a suspended imposition of sentence and a 120-day period of shock incarceration. Circuit Judge Tim Perigo ordered the completion of a sentencing-assessment report and set Jan. 12 as the date for the defendant’s sentencing.

Miller was the driver of a vehicle that struck two other vehicles Sept. 17, 2007, on 32nd Street near McConnell Avenue.

A passenger in Miller’s vehicle, Kirsten A. Keczkemethy, died of injuries suffered in the accident. A Joplin couple who were in one of the other vehicles, Robert T. Adkins, 81, and Faye M. Adkins, 84, suffered serious injuries. Miller was critically injured.

A Joplin Police Department report states that Miller was westbound on 32nd Street in the inside lane and crossed into the eastbound lanes, where his Mercury Mystique struck the Adkins’ vehicle and then a second eastbound vehicle driven by Lindsey D. Butler, 19, of Neosho. Butler did not require treatment for injuries.

According to a probable-cause affidavit, witnesses described Miller as driving out of control at speeds of about 55 to 60 mph in the 40-mph zone. His vehicle reportedly struck a curb, crossed over all the westbound lanes and passed vehicles in a turning lane before shooting into the eastbound lanes, the affidavit states.

A personal-injury lawsuit was filed by the Adkins couple in January.

Reconstruction

Speed analysis completed as part of local law enforcement’s reconstruction of a fatal accident on 32nd Street in 2007 determined that Kaleb Miller’s vehicle was going at least 61 mph at the time of the crash.