A state senator has been formally charged with first degree manslaughter, accused of causing the death of a Bristow man in a fatal traffic collision in May.
Allison Michelle Ikley-Freeman was charged in Lincoln County District Court last week with the felony. District Judge Cindy Ferrell Ashwood set bond for the defendant at $30,000.
The judge also scheduled a pre-preliminary hearing for Ikley-Freeman for 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2021.
A Democrat representing District 37 in the Tulsa area, Ikley-Freeman was elected in 2017, but lost her bid for re-election earlier this month.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Shayne Ballard, of the Traffic Homicide Division, identified the man who died in the collision as Enrique Lopez, 44. Ballard investigated the fatal wreck and also prepared an affidavit of probable cause for an arrest warrant.
The trooper reported Lopez was the driver of a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and Ikley-Freeman was driving a 2015 Honda CR-V.
According to the investigation, the Camaro was parked and stuck in the grass on the side of the Turner Turnpike in Lincoln County. Ballard reported the 2015 Honda CR-V was headed westbound on the turnpike and that it departed the roadway to the right and struck the Camaro on the driver’s side with the front of the Honda.
Following the collision, Ballard states in the affidavit, Lopez was pronounced dead at the scene.
The collision occurred around 7:32 a.m. on May 22, near Allied Road, the trooper stated.
In the affidavit, Ballard states Lopez, prior to his vehicle being struck by the Honda, had phoned his wife at around 7:24 a.m. and advised her he had hydroplaned into the ditch and was stuck, knowing she had a fourwheel drive vehicle and could pull him out of the ditch.
Moments later Lopez’s vehicle was struck by the Honda, the trooper said.
According to information obtained in the investigation, the speed of the Camaro driven by Lopez was 0, “consistent with the vehicle being stuck in the ditch,” Ballard states in the affidavit.
The investigation also determined that Ikley-Freeman was traveling 91 miles an hour, 16 miles over the posted speed limit, in weather conditions described by three separate witnesses as heavy rain and moderate wind gusts.
In the affidavit Ballard states, “Allison Ikley-Freeman was operating her vehicle in complete disregard to the motoring public and was in the process of committing several misdemeanor crimes, including: speeding, reckless driving, operating a vehicle at a speed greater than reasonable and proper for the weather conditions and failure to stay in a single lane of travel, when the collision occurred resulting in the death of Enrique Lopez.
A State Medical Examiner’s report noted Lopez did not have any intoxicants in his blood stream.