Yellville Man Faces Manslaughter Charge

A Yellville man is facing charges after a juvenile in his vehicle lost her pregnancy in an accident last year.

Nineteen-year-old Benjamin Fulkerson was booked into the Marion County Law Enforcement Center Thursday in a felony count of manslaughter, four misdemeanor counts of first-degree assault, one felony count each of speeding and reckless driving and a violation of careless or prohibited driving.

According to the probable cause affidavit, a state trooper was dispatched to the scene of a one-vehicle accident with multiple serious injuries on Arkansas Highway 14 northwest of Summit on Nov. 21 of last year. The driver was identified as Fulkerson, and he had four passengers, including two juveniles.

Everyone in the vehicle was hospitalized. Injuries to the passengers include a broken spine resulting in permanent paralysis to the lower extremities, a skull fracture, a pelvic fracture and the loss of an unborn child.

Fulkerson had reportedly failed to negotiate a curve, and his vehicle traveled off the right side of the roadway, overturned and struck two trees. Five days later, it was determined the vehicle had been traveling 81 miles-per-hour in a 55 zone. Interviews of two of the passengers revealed Fulkerson had allegedly been traveling as high as 100 miles-per-hour, and one of the passengers claimed he had smoked marijuana prior to the collision.

In May, the trooper conducted a phone interview with Fulkerson, and he reportedly admitted he didn’t know his speed from the accident, but he knew it was fast. He said he was “distracted by all the fun” and not paying attention.

Fulkerson’s bond is set at $10,000.

(From KTLO)