WARREN — Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean O’Brien, Assistant Prosecutor Mike Burnett and the family of Brenda Hibbard of Niles acknowledge that Wayne S. Keeley, 63, of Weathersfield, had not been in trouble with the law before he was charged with causing Hibbard’s death in his pickup truck Oct. 4.

His attorney, Carlo Ciccone, said a report on Keeley’s background was one of the “cleanest” he had ever read. Evaluators found that Keeley is at low risk to reoffend. He “worked 40-plus years, most of those years as an auto mechanic here locally,” Ciccone said.

Ciccone asked that O’Brien sentence Keeley to probation, noting that Keeley qualified to participate in a lockdown alternative sentencing program through the Community Corrections Association in Youngstown and has no criminal record.

“He basically made a very terrible error in judgment that night,” Ciccone said of the incident.

Keeley spoke, apologizing for his actions, saying “I’m very sorry for what I have done. I ask for your forgiveness.”

Burnett said Hibbard’s family has expressed some “deep-rooted feelings.” He said the family does “recognize that Mr. Keeley has no record, though they don’t feel that’s an excuse.” Burnett said the family thinks Keeley should get four years in prison. Burnett said that is his recommendation also.

Later, O’Brien gave Keeley a four-year prison sentence with credit for 122 days of time already spent in the Trumbull County jail. Keeley will serve a five-year driver’s license suspension.

GUILTY PLEA

Keeley pleaded guilty in December to aggravated vehicular homicide, failure to stop after an accident, both third-degree felonies, and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.

Niles police said Keeley’s Ford F-150 King Ranch veered off the road at Fifth Street and Indiana Avenue in the southwestern corner of Niles at 8:42 p.m. The truck hit a shed and parked vehicles, then hit Hibbard, a retired Newton Falls teacher, as she investigated the noise.

Hibbard was found unresponsive in a yard and was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where she died.

The crash report shows Keeley’s truck traveled off of Fifth Avenue and entered backyards on Indiana Avenue before hitting the shed in Hibbard’s neighbor’s backyard, turning to the right, hitting a grill, two parked vehicles and Hibbard before leaving the scene.

Keeley was later arrested after a citizen’s tip that the truck was parked in the Niles Park Plaza parking lot, according to reports. Police said 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 produced 30 leads that also helped solve the case, police said.

THE VICTIM

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 Hibbard’s kindness and influence on the community would be “forever remembered and cherished.”

Hibbard’s obituary stated that she was an Austintown Fitch High School graduate who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education and was a kindergarten and elementary school teacher with the Newton Falls Local School District for 30 years prior to retiring in 2023.

She was a breast cancer survivor and an avid gardener. One of her greatest joys was her love of rescue animals and volunteering her time with The Healthy Hearts and Paws Project in Warren.

JUDGE

Before announcing the sentence, O’Brien said Keeley had no criminal record. “But your actions that day — you took the life of a very model citizen, someone who was very loving and cared about her community, was involved in her community.”

He added, “I don’t think you intentionally meant to do it, but your actions showed something different. You didn’t stop after you went around the house, hit a storage shed with two cars in it. You hit a bunch of different items. You made such a commotion, (Hibbard) came outside to see what was going on.”

“You still didn’t stop,” O’Brien said. “You backed up and you still managed to hit her head-on. And then you didn’t stop after the accident. So based on your actions that night, I feel the appropriate sentence is to go along with what the prosecutor is recommending.”