Drunk driver sentenced to 5 years for fatal hit-and-run

PARAGOULD, Ark. (KAIT) - A man who was “too intoxicated” to talk with officers the night he fatally hit a pedestrian then drove off will spend the next 5 years in an Arkansas state prison.

Judge Melissa Richardson sentenced Gregory Charles Spaunhorst, 36, of Paragould to 60 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections after he pleaded guilty to one count of negligent homicide.

Spaunhorst also received 60 months probation after pleading guilty to one count of failure to stop after an accident with injury or death.

On the night of May 20, 2018, according to court records, Spaunhorst struck 41-year-old Davedrick Chaney of Memphis and a 4-year-old child as they were walking along South 11th Avenue.

After being taken to Arkansas Methodist Medical Center, Chaney was transferred to The MED in Memphis where he later died.

At the time of the incident, a witness described the suspect vehicle as a maroon Dodge pickup truck. An officer on the scene reported passing a westbound truck matching the vehicle on Highway 412.

Officers were able to find the truck at the Dodge Store on West Kingshighway with damage to the front passenger side. Spaunhorst was the truck’s sole occupant.

According to the affidavit, when police tried to speak with Spaunhorst, he was “too intoxicated to interview” and was arrested for public intoxication.

Pieces of headlight were collected from the scene of the incident that contained a part number consistent with Spaunhorst’s vehicle, the court documents stated.

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