FAYETTEVILLE -- A Farmington man has been arrested in connection with negligent homicide after a wrong-way crash on Fulbright Expressway in Fayetteville that killed a child last month.
Alexander Rios-Rodriguez, 27, of 157 Summer Wood Place in Farmington turned himself in to the Washington County Detention Center on Tuesday afternoon where he was arrested on one count of negligent homicide, with a blood alcohol of .10 or more, and second-degree battery.
Rios-Rodriguez was released from the Detention Center on Tuesday after posting $25,000 bond. An arraignment is set for Feb. 12 in Washington County Circuit Court.
Negligent homicide is a Class A misdemeanor under Arkansas law, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, if convicted. A person commits negligent homicide if he or she negligently causes the death of another person, according to the law.
According to an Arkansas State Police fatal crash summary, the wreck occurred at 4:35 a.m. Jan. 14 when Rios-Rodriguez was driving east in the westbound lanes on the expressway in a 2019 Toyota Camry.
The Toyota crashed head-on with a westbound 2009 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Alexs Soliz, 39, of Fort Smith, causing severe front-end damage to both vehicles and resulting in the death of a minor female passenger in the Chevrolet.
Rios-Rodriguez and Soliz were both injured in the crash.
The injured passengers were Erick Valera-Pecina, 32, of Fayetteville, who was in the Toyota, and Joshua Fedorchak, 29, of Bella Vista and Mi-Yan Garza, 23, of Bentonville, both of whom were in the Chevrolet.
The injured were all taken to area hospitals for treatment.
According to the crash report, the weather was clear at the time of the crash and the road was dry.