Staff report

WARREN — A Warren man who caused the death of a Niles woman after striking her with his vehicle while she was in her yard Oct. 4 pleaded guilty Wednesday before Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean O’Brien.

Wayne S. Keeley, 63, of Hickory Lane SW, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, failure to stop after an accident, both third-degree felonies, and a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter.

The fatal crash occurred at Fifth Street and Indiana Avenue in Niles when Keeley’s black Ford F-150 King Ranch veered off the road, struck a shed and a parked vehicle, and then hit Brenda Hibbard, a retired Newton Falls teacher, as she investigated the noise. Hibbard was found unresponsive in a yard and later died from her injuries.

Keeley, who fled the scene in the truck, was later arrested after a citizen’s tip that the truck was parked in the Niles Park Plaza parking lot, according to reports.

According to police, Keeley cooperated with detectives, saying he fell asleep while driving home from work and panicked after the crash.

Investigators recovered vehicle parts with serial numbers at the scene and used Flock camera footage to narrow down the vehicle to an F-series Ford, aiding in Keeley’s swift identification. Tips from the public that produced 30 leads also helped solve the case, police said at the time.

Hibbard, a retired second grade teacher from the Newton Falls Exempted Village School District, was remembered by Superintendent Andreas Johansson as a dedicated educator who “touched and shaped the lives of thousands of children, fostering curiosity, confidence and a lifelong love of learning.” Johansson added that her kindness and influence on the community would be “forever remembered and cherished.”

Keeley will be sentenced after he undergoes a background investigation conducted by probation officers. He has been at the Trumbull County jail on a $1 million bond set by Niles Municipal Court Judge Christopher Shaker since his arraignment Oct. 7.