Hill arrested on charges of negligent homicide in fatal car accident
Banner, News — By Christopher Spencer on August 2, 2011 at 8:52 pm
Dorothy Hill
Dorothy Hill, 40, of Farmington was booked into the Washington County Jail Monday afternoon on charges of negligent homicide. She was released on bail a few minutes later.
Hill is accused of killing area actor Sean Mabrey and Kathleen Mellinger when Hill’s Mazda Miata struck the victims’ vehicle. Hill was driving north on a southbound lane of Interstate 540 near the Wedington exit in Fayetteville, according to state police.
A test from the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory revealed that Hill’s blood alcohol level was 0.19, more than twice the legal drinking limit, Arkansas State Police Trooper Eric Lee said.
Once the lab results were final, the investigation was handed over to Prosecuting Attorney John Threet. His office not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
She was charged with a Class B Felony which carries a sentence of five to 20 years and a fine of no more than $15,000.
[Note: Thanks to diligent reader Laine for catching Hill's booking.]
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11 Comments
This woman killed two of my very good, beloved friends. I hope she goes to jail for a long, long time, but I imagine she’ll be out on the streets again in just a few years. Where’s the justice?
I’m with Jim on this. Kathy was my cousin and Sean my friend. There’s no justice in this. She’ll be out before we know it and how long before she destroys more families?
She was released on a $5,000 bond, which means that you pay 1/10 of that. She paid $500 to be released for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, etc. That calculates to $250 per person. Since the murders occurred on May 15, that means that as of today she’s paid $.00463 for every minute that the murdered young people have missed of life.
The only punishment this woman will every face is a little prison time. The complex set of laws our lovely politicians get credit for establishing weave a spiderweb that prevents the ability for victims to punish the guilty, and protects the assets, privacy, etc. of the guilty. Are you aware that any judgement that may be “awarded” for the loss of life will immediately be washed away by a simple bankruptcy filing? And that not only washes away the judgement, but all other debt she has? In effect, she will be handed a get out of jail free card, all debt dissolved, a new and unvarnished life, etc. The public need to know how the legal system really works, and I don’t think they do. I’ve gotten quite an education.
Welllllll, I learned today that this lovely teacher had at least one prior incident with the Farmington police that involved driving with a suspended license (inquiring minds want to know – - – — for what????), plus failure to appear in court!!! OMG, what a fine, upstanding model that we need to have teaching our children. FAYETTEVILLE, are you listening????????????? Or have you become immune to common decency in them rush for the almighty dollar? The Fayetteville area is becoming known as “FAYETTEVILLE – COD (CITY OF DRUNKS)” – - this is an issue with Little Rock parents who don’t want their sons and daughters to think that this is acceptable behavior. However, the Fayetteville school system apparently doesn’t test their teachers for drugs, alcohol, etc. Dorothy Shannon Hill had marijuana and opiates in her system at the time that she killed my baby. She told the judge (William E. Storey) that she still has drugs in her body. He just nodded!!!!!!!!!!!! My lord, what does it take, FAYEETTEVILLE????????????? You have a problem.
This woman is very sweet, she made a mistake and now she has to pay the consequences. I realize what she did was wrong but it doesnt make us any better by talking bad about her like that. Shannon is a mom, a human being. So just let her deal with the consequences and leave it alone. Put yourselves in her shoes.
Maybe you should read all the information available. “Sweet” doesn’t do drugs, have prior police bookings, prior failures to show up in court, etc. Enabling allows this to continue, instead of taking a stand and trying to make life better for all of us. It won’t be long till she’s out of jail anyway. Wonder who’s child will be next? Not mine – -
Margaret, you are hurting and upset, as any mother would be, given the same situation. However, lashing out at the WRONG school district isn’t going to ease your pain. I do not live in Fayetteville nor do I have children in their school, but I am a stickler for the facts when it comes to publicly beating someone up. I hope you can find it in your heart to one day forgive Ms. Hill, if not for her, for yourself.
Let me just say to everyone that i pray for peace on both sides of this ordeal because regardless of the tragic incident, there are families affected all around. To the students who made comments i say “thank you”, people should know that she was more than just a drunk driver. She too like the people she unfortunately killed was someones daughter, friend, aunt, mother, wife etc.. She was an individual who had an addiction. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees. I myself have lived on both sides of this type of tragedy and it’s always a no win situation. If you truly are a christian then the thing to do is turn to God. Ask for what you need at a time like this (patience, forgiveness, sympathy)……..Again I pray peace for both families and all who were touched by all involved in this situation. If you are sincere in your heart God will give you just what you need when you need it.
You are right, I should have the facts – the one thing i know is that she was a school teacher in NW Arkansas, and I’ve been given 2 different districts’ names so I’ll just be kind and not be any more specific than that. But you would think that background checks were more careful where our children are concerned.
Learned today that she was evicted, has liens against her for non-payment of taxes in prior years, etc. I need to summarize all the findings that I’ve posted here so her profile is apparent and appalling.
I am praying for peace, and I don’t know if it will ever come. Dorothy/Shannon did tell me she was sorry. I’ve tried hard, really hard, to hate her but I just can’t seem to get there. I have the most intense anger and rage that you could imagine (multiply that by 1000 to even comprehend), but I can’t seem to hate her. Her family didn’t bat an eye, say hello, sorry our daughter/family did that to you, nor did they even leak a tear when looking at photos of my dying daughter in that courtroom. I’m pretty disgusted and amazed at the enabling.
SHE WAS MY TEACHER MRS.HILL WE MISS U AND THINK OF YOU EVERYDAY SO LONG MRS.HILL HOPE TO SEE U LATER
I have requested this thread be removed and not be allowed for further posts. This needs to stop. Please do not post anything further. Please let all families move on.