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Last updated on Friday, December 22, 2017
(JENNINGS CO.) - A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the death of a Seymour woman.
A crash on Sept. 17, 2016 claimed the life of 37-year-old Nikki Reed of Seymour. 40-year-old Kevin Eugene Bell of Dover, Pennsylvania was driving the vehicle.
He was sentenced in Jennings County Circuit Court after accepting a negotiated plea deal.
Bell plead guilty to a Level 5 felony of driving with a suspended driver's license resulting in the death of another person. Four other charges were dropped. He received 464 days of credit for time.
Troopers with the Indiana State Police Versailles Post learned Bell and Reed, a mother of three, were traveling to a birthday party in Seymour when Reed's 1999 Ford Explorer, driven by Bell, left the roadway and struck a tree. The wreck occurred in the 8600 block of East U.S. 50 in Jennings County near the Ripley County line, killing Reed who was the front seat passenger.
Bell, who suffered a broken leg in the crash, remained in the vehicle for three days before he crawled out of the vehicle, up an embankment and stopped a motorist for help.
Trooper Rick Hewitt arrived on scene and spoke with Bell, who lied to the trooper about how he was injured and did not initially tell officers that he had been in a crash or that Reed was dead inside the vehicle. He told police he had fallen from the guardrail and down the embankment.
After determining that Bell had been reported as a missing person along with Reed, the trooper searched the area and found the vehicle and Reed's body. An autopsy confirmed Reed died from injuries suffered during the accident.
Bell was hospitalized in an Indianapolis hospital and arrested on Oct. 10th, 2016 on warrants charging him with driving while his driver's license was suspended causing death, a Level 5 felony, leaving the scene of a fatal crash, a Level 5 felony, failure to report a dead body, a Class A misdemeanor, driving while driver's license suspended, a Class A misdemeanor, false informing, a Class B misdemeanor.
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