An Ada woman faces a first degree manslaughter charge in connection with a fatal traffic collision that claimed the life of a Prague man last October.
Formal charges were filed in Lincoln County District Court on April 21 against Haley Jordan Price, 30, and she also was charged with feloniously driving while under the influence of alcohol.
A $30,000 bench warrant was filed for her arrest the same day the charges were filed, court records show.
Supplemental information filed by prosecutors shows that on March 8, 2013, Price was convicted in Ponotoc County of the misdemeanor offense of DUI.
The first degree manslaughter charge accuses Price on about Oct. 26, 2020 of unlawfully engaging in a misdemeanor. She reportedly was driving a 2014 Honda CRV while her driving privileges were suspended and her vehicle crossed the center line of the roadway colliding with a 2010 Toyota Tacoma driven by Rogers.
A probable cause affidavit filed in the case states Rogers died the following evening from the injuries he sustained in the collision. Rogers was 81.
The two-vehicle collision occurred on U.S. 62 at Airport Road about one mile west of Prague in Lincoln County.
The second count against Price charges her with DUI and being convicted previously of DUI.
The affidavit says that State Trooper Broden Carls responded to the scene of the collision that occurred around 7:47 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2020. It states he conducted a preliminary investigation.
Trooper Shayne Ballard, a Traffic Homicide Investigator, conducted the followup investigation and filed the affidavit in the case.
Carls said the Honda driven by Price was occupied by passengers Veronica Brunson and Chelsea Easley-Wade.
Rogers died at approximately 6:42 p.m. on Oct. 27, the affidavit says.
Once Carls was finished at the collision scene, he responded to OU Medical Center to speak with the occupants involved in the collision. He interviewed Price there and she told Carls she was driver of the vehicle when asked.
The trooper reported Price acknowledged to him she was not supposed to be driving because she did not have a valid license. When she was asked what happened, Price told Carls, “her and her friends were going to Prague from Ada to meet a friend. Her friend was getting tired of driving and didn’t want to drive any more,” she related to the trooper.
“They pulled over on a county road, switched seats and she then pulled onto U.S. 62 and began driving east towards Prague,” she further advised Carls.
She told the trooper, “I then felt the tire began to lose control,” causing her to enter the other lane and hit the other vehicle headon.
Trooper Ballard states in the affidavit he reviewed a copy of OU Medical Records for Price who had an orthopedic consultation with Dr. Garrett Waller while being treated for her injuries.
Price reportedly stated, “She switched seats to drive because she thought she was less drunk.”
Ballard interviewed Price on Oct. 28 and she admitted to driving the vehicle with herself and the other two women in it. She once again stated she knew she did not have a valid driver’s license.
She admitted to Ballard of using methamphetamine four or five days prior to the collision but did not mention anything about alcohol use, the affidavit says.
Ballard reported that as part of the investigation, Price’s driver license record and criminal background was checked. The trooper learned that Price has not had a valid driver’s license since 2010 and her driver’s license was suspended due to multiple DUI’s.
A blood draw was obtained by OU medical staff, the OSBI’s Forensic Science Center tested blood samples obtained from Price and found her Blood Alcohol Content to be 0.122 at the time it was obtained.
The affidavit states that Price had a previous DUI conviction in Ponotoc County on Sep. 17, 2010, in addition to her conviction on May 8, 2013 in that county. In both convictions, she received suspended sentences.