A 37-year-old Littlefield man was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after admitting to causing a crash that killed one man at a picnic area on U.S. 84 about eight miles West of Shallowater.
Dennis Abeyta appeared in the 140th District Court and pleaded guilty to a count of manslaughter in connection with the Jan. 25, 2019 death of 40-year-old Kenley Gene Raney of Henderson, Nevada. He faced a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
He admitted to recklessly driving his vehicle while impaired by alcohol, speeding, failing to maintain a single lane and failing to avoid the collision that killed Raney.
He will have to serve half of his sentence before he will be eligible to apply for parole.
As part of his plea deal with the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office, a count of intoxication manslaughter was dismissed.
Abeyta’s charge stems from a Texas Department of Public Safety investigation into the crash reported about 2:45 a.m. Jan. 25, 2019.
A preliminary crash investigation indicated Abeyta was driving a 2016 Dodge Charger westbound on U.S. 84 and ran off the road into the picnic area, crashing into Raney’s parked Nissan passenger car where he was in the backseat asleep.
The Charger travelled through Raney’s Nissan and continued southwest before flipping, coming to a rest upside down next to railroad tracks.
Abeyta was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center.
Investigators at the time suspected speed and alcohol contributed to the crash.