NILES Bond is set at $1 million for the man arrested in connection with a deadly crash that killed a retired Newton Falls teacher.

Wayne Keeley, 63, of Warren Township, pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning during a video arraignment in Niles Municipal Court.

Keeley faces charges of vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident in the death of 67-year-old Brenda Hibbard. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.

The charges stem from an incident on Saturday night near Fifth Street and Indiana Avenue. Police responded to the area around 8:43 p.m. after receiving a 911 call reporting an unresponsive female in a yard.

According to the police report, an unknown vehicle drove through the backyard of a home on the 700 block of Indiana Avenue, striking parked vehicles and hitting Hibbard. A neighbor described the scene to a 911 dispatcher, saying, “Somebody just drove through my yard and hit my car, my shed, and everything. My neighbor’s lying on the ground.”

Officers found Hibbard, who was knocked backwards out of her shoes by the impact. She was transported to a hospital for treatment but later died of her injuries, according to authorities.

Hibbard was a retired second-grade teacher from the Newton Falls Exempted Village School District, where she had taught before retiring in 2023.

Investigators located two vehicle parts with corresponding part numbers at the scene, leading police to believe the suspect vehicle was a later model Ford F-150.

Keeley was taken into custody Monday afternoon after police received a call about a pickup truck matching the suspected 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. He remains in the Trumbull County Jail.