A rural Mountain Home man appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday and was sentenced to 8 months in the county jail and 15 years probation on charges stemming from a fatal traffic accident in mid-February last year.
Twenty-two-year-old Keith Merrill Stuebner of rural Mountain Home pled to the court. His guilty plea was entered October 23.
A plea to the court indicates the prosecution and defense have not reached an agreement on a plea, including what sentence should be imposed, and it is left to the court to make those decisions.
A pre-sentencing report was prepared by Arkansas Community Correction staff and given to Circuit Judge John Putman for his review.
Stuebner is charged with negligent homicide and driving while intoxicated.
During a sentencing hearing Monday, Judge Putman said a significant number of people, including relatives of the victim, had contacted him asking that Stuebner not be sent to prison.
Stuebner took the stand during the hearing and said the victim, then 20-year-old Blake Liveley, was “one of my few true friends. I could count them on one hand.” He said he had known Liveley since moving to the Twin Lakes Area from California.
Struggling to control his emotions, Stuebner told the court, “I took my friend’s life and it eats at me every day.” He said he had been suicidal for “a long time after the accident.”
Stuebner said he and Liveley had been “hanging out” at a bonfire by the lake on the day of the accident, “and a bad decision was made – to drink and drive.”
Since the accident, Stuebner said he been to counseling, started a business detailing vehicles and stopped drinking. He said he had “been trying to change myself for the better.”
Judge Putman said the case was a difficult one. He said the requests he had gotten to allow Stuebner to stay out of prison and make something of his life had been an influence on his decision. “I didn’t hear from anyone that wanted this young man sent to prison.”
The judge said he said he “appreciated what you have done on your own to get your life straightened out.”
He said he had not been totally sure about the sentence to impose as late as when he was driving from his residence in Harrison to Mountain Home for court Monday.
Judge Putman said, “this is a very serious felony and we are trying to balance punishment with the opportunity to change a life.”
THE ACCIDENT
According to the probable cause affidavit, Stuebner was driving a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt on Rodeo Drive when the vehicle left the road and hit two trees.
Stuebner’s blood alcohol level is reported to have been well above the legal limit in Arkansas.
According to the police report, the one- vehicle accident occurred at 12:30 a.m., February 12, 2022. A witness said she saw a vehicle in some bushes and called 911 after seeing the driver crawl out a window.
Liveley was a passenger in the vehicle and had to be extricated from the wrecked vehicle.
He was airlifted to Cox Medical Center where he died Feb. 19 just before 2 a.m.
Mountain Home attorney Paul Bayless represented Stuebner.
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