NILES The suspect arrested in connection with a deadly hit-skip crash in Niles Saturday night is being held in the Trumbull County Jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.

Sixty-three-year-old Wayne Keeley of Warren Township faces a video arraignment in Niles Municipal Court on Tuesday.

Police responded to the area of Fifth Street and Indiana Avenue around 8:43 p.m. on Oct. 4 after the department's Dispatch Center received a 911 call about an unresponsive female in a yard.

According to a police report, an unknown vehicle entered the backyard of a home on the 700 block of Indiana Avenue and drove through it, striking parked vehicles facing the driveway. Police say a woman, identified as Brenda Hibbard, was also struck by the car, causing her to be knocked backwards out of her shoes. 

"Somebody just drove through my yard and hit my car, my shed and everything. My neighbor's lying on the ground," a neighbor said to a 911 dispatcher.

Hibbard was taken to the hospital for treatment, but ultimately died of her injuries according to police. 

According to Newton Falls Exempted Village School District Superintendent Andreas Johansson, Hibbard was a retired and beloved teacher within the district. Johansson said Hibbard taught second grade before retiring in 2023.

"Brenda touched and shaped the lives of thousands of children, fostering curiosity, confidence and a lifelong love of learning. ... Her kindness, dedication and lasting influence on the Newton Falls learning community will be forever remembered and cherished," Johansson said.

Investigators located two vehicle parts with corresponding part numbers at the scene. Based on this evidence, police currently believe the suspect vehicle is a later model Ford F-150, likely an uplevel trim model with a two-tone paint scheme of black or blue over silver. The vehicle is expected to have sustained front-end damage and may be missing the driver's side mirror.

Detectives canvassed the neighborhood for video footage and have determined the crash occurred around 8:14 p.m.

According to a post on the Niles Police Department's Facebook page, Keeley was in custody as of Monday afternoon. 

According to the release, police found Keeley after someone called about a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle's description in the Niles Park Plaza.

 

Police spoke to Keeley, who allegedly admitted to officers that he fell asleep at the wheel on his way home from work and panicked after the crash.